CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It was the next day that preparations for the president's upcoming visit really began in earnest. Jack was happy that it was General Hammond who was dealing with everything. Just the thought of having to discuss bunting colors made him feel like he was breaking out in hives.
SG-1 had something more interesting to occupy their attention. They'd obtained a gate address from rebel Jaffa who had been servants of Anubis before his defeat. The planet had formerly been in Anubis' domain, and it appeared that either the person who took over the half-ascended Goa'uld's territories didn't know about it or just hadn't been bothered with yet. The intel they received indicated that there might be an abandoned base there, which meant that it was possible there were also weapons there. A device had been obtained from the Jaffa formerly loyal to Anubis that would likely allow access to the base.
"You have a go for the mission, Colonel," Hammond said at the briefing. "I believe that Teal'c is due to return at 1800 today, correct?"
"Yes, sir," Sam replied.
"All right. We'll schedule the mission for 0800 hours tomorrow."
"Let's just hope that the person controlling Anubis' territories doesn't find out about it," Daniel commented. "If the rebel Jaffa know about it, it's only a matter of time before he does, too."
Hammond frowned slightly. "Do you feel that this is pressing enough to go today? If so, you would have to do so without Teal'c."
The three members of SG-1 all looked at each other.
"No, sir, I think we'd better wait for Teal'c," Jack decided. "We might need him, even if it is just a recon mission."
Just then, there was the announcement of an off-world activation. A lieutenant came in.
"It's SG-5 and the representatives from Amora to discuss the pending trade agreement, sir."
"Yes. I'll be right down there, Lieutenant," the general responded. He stood up. "Excuse me, SG-1."
After Hammond left the room, Daniel got up and walked over to the window, Jack and Sam joining him. They watched as the gate opened and two Amoran delegates came through, flanked by SG-5. They were met at the bottom of the ramp by Major Paul Davis, who was joined by the general.
"Here comes one negotiation I'm glad I'm not part of," Daniel said.
Jack looked at him. "Oh?"
"I feel sorry for General Hammond. It's going to be like dealing with recalcitrant children arguing over a toy they both want."
"Well, he could always throw them in a room together for a timeout. It's amazing how well that works sometimes."
As the teammates were leaving the briefing room, a call came over the PA system asking them to go to Doctor Lee's lab. When they got there, the scientist was staring in fascination at a plant.
"Amazing. Simply amazing," he murmured.
SG-1 walked up to him.
Jack stared down at the object of Bill's statement. "It's a plant," he said, wondering what the big deal was.
"Exactly! Twenty minutes ago, it was a seed."
Sam's interest piqued. "Really?"
"Is it really a good idea to be bringing alien plant life through the gate?" Jack asked. "Anybody remember those weird plants that made us really grouchy and gave us one hell of a headache?"
"SG-8 ran tests and determined that it would be perfectly safe, Colonel," Bill insisted. "If humankind is going to benefit from what we find out there, we have to be able to study it in controlled situations."
"It's a plant!"
"I know, I-I-I know, and I know our mandate is to seek out new weapons and technology to defend the planet from our enemies, but . . . wouldn't it be cool if we could exploit the wonders of the galaxy for other beneficial purposes, like curing disease, or, well, in this case . . . possibly solving world hunger."
Jack looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, I haven't had lunch yet." He looked at his teammates. "How about you?"
"Sounds good to me," Daniel responded.
The three of them went to the commissary. They were just finishing up their meal when Daniel was instructed to go to the briefing room.
"Uh oh," he said. "Something tells me that General Hammond has lost patience with the Amorans."
Jack grinned. "Your reputation as a brilliant negotiator is proving to be your downfall this time, Daniel."
The archeologist glared at him. "If I have to get involved in this negotiation, I'm not going to be able to go on that mission tomorrow, Jack, since I seriously doubt that I'll get anything resolved that quickly."
"Oh." Jack got to his feet. "Come on. I'll back you up. It's the least I can do for a teammate."
The two men went to the briefing room. When they got there, they were met by Major Davis.
"We're completely stalled," he said. "The Amorans can't agree with each other, let alone us. They're like . . . bickering children."
Daniel looked at Jack with a "What did I tell you?" expression on his face.
"Definitely sounds like a timeout is in order," the colonel said.
He, Daniel and the major entered the briefing room. The look on Hammond's face told them that he was about ready to toss the Amorans back through the Stargate. The two delegates were standing face to face, neither of them appearing to be in a pleasant mood.
"The plains of Goran are sacred ground!" the dark-haired Amoran exclaimed.
"To the plainsmen," dismissively responded the other Amoran, a man with a shaved head.
"I am a plainsman."
The bald man looked at the other Amoran contemptuously. "I know."
The dark-haired man's face darkened with rage. "I take offense at that!"
The other looked thoughtful. "Offense. Now, there's an idea."
"Hi, folks," Jack greeted brightly. He turned to Hammond. "Sir, with your permission, I think I can resolve things here."
"Be my guest, Colonel," the general responded.
Jack turned back to the Amorans. "What do you say we take a little break? All this negotiating, it's just exhausting. And you've been at it a whole," he looked at his watch, "hour and a half, already. We've prepared special quarters for you." He looked at Hammond. "Isn't that right, sir?"
"Yes, we have."
"Excellent!" Jack returned his attention to the delegates. "You can relax, get a massage, room service, whatever you need. Come on, I'll show you."
SG-1 and the Amorans went up to Level 25. SF's standing in front of two VIP rooms told Jack which ones had been set aside for the delegates. He and the others walked up to one of the rooms. The door was opened by the SF on guard.
Jack entered the room, followed by the Amorans. Daniel and Sam stayed out in the hall, looking in through the doorway.
"Ah? Fellas." Jack scooped up an apple that was on the floor, apparently one from the bowl of fruit sitting on the table. "What do you think?" He glanced about the room. "All right, so it's not the Ritz, but we do what we can around here. Knock twice when you're ready to talk like adults, all right?" He walked toward the door.
"Whoa, whoa, wait! Colonel!" called the dark-haired Amoran.
"You don't expect us to share one room," the other man said.
"Not . . . amicably, at first. But I have great hope for you boys."
As the Amorans rushed toward the door, Jack slipped through, slammed it shut and locked it. He jingled the key in front of the small window in the door. The men glared back at him through the glass.
"You can't do this!" man with hair shouted.
"Open this door at once," the other demanded.
Ignoring them, Jack turned to the guard. "Nobody gets out." He tossed the key to him and walked away, Daniel and Sam on his heels.
"Well, that's one way of handling it," the archeologist remarked.
"Like I said, a little timeout can do wonders."
"And if they kill each other instead?"
Jack shrugged. "Then we ask for a couple more delegates."
Though General Hammond wasn't certain if Jack's plan would work, he was willing to give it a try.
At 1800 hours, SG-1 were in the gate room awaiting their teammate's arrival. Right on time, the Stargate activated.
As Teal'c appeared through the Stargate, the mouths of his teammates dropped open with identical expressions of shock. They blinked several times.
It was no surprise that Jack was the first one to find his voice. "Teal'c. What's with the hair?" His eyes, along with everyone else's in the gate room and control room, were on the top of the Jaffa's head, which was covered with a light fuzz of hair. "Forget to bring your razor?"
"I did not forget, O'Neill" Teal'c replied. "No longer will I shave my head."
"Why?" Daniel asked.
"I will explain at the proper time."
"Welcome back, Teal'c," Hammond said through the speaker.
"Thank you, General Hammond."
"Okay, let's go to Daniel's office," Jack said. "I can't wait to hear this story."
The moment they entered the office, Jack was speaking. "Okay, Teal'c, give. Why did you suddenly decide to ditch the Telly Savalas look?"
"Does it have something to do with the Ra'kon Akel?" Daniel asked.
"That is correct, Daniel Jackson. At each Ra'kon Akel, a Jaffa is required to perform some kind of act as a symbol of their pledge of service to their Goa'uld master. On my last Ra'kon Akel, I pledged to shave my head for the remainder of my life. On this Ra'kon Akel, I chose my pledge symbol to be that I would reverse my earlier pledge and cease shaving my head for the remainder of my life."
"Ah. Nice little loophole there," Jack commented.
"Teal'c, if shaving your head was part of your pledge of service to Apophis, why didn't you stop when you rebelled against him?" Sam asked.
"Because, as with all pledge symbols, I swore upon my honor as a Jaffa and upon the lives of my family that I would not break it. If I had broken that pledge, not only would I have been dishonoring all Jaffa, I would have been surrendering my family to be killed by any Jaffa or Goa'uld who sought to punish me for my pledge break."
"So . . . the hair's staying, then?" Jack questioned.
"Yes."
"Cool. Just don't grow an afro, okay? That wig you wore back when we were stuck in 1969 just wasn't a good look for you. But then, it might have had something to do with the scarf."
When SG-1 arrived on base the next morning, Hammond called Jack to his office.
"Congratulations, Colonel. The delegates from Amora are even angrier than they were before your 'timeout'. They are demanding to be released and say there is no chance that a trade agreement will ever be reached between our governments now."
"Did they get the donuts? I specifically suggested Krispy Kremes." Seeing that Hammond was not amused, Jack said, "Sir, I'm betting that if you give them another day in there, things will improve."
"We are skirting a fine line here, Colonel. Some would consider this kidnapping."
"Nope, can't be a kidnapping unless we ask for a ransom, and I can't imagine anyone being willing to pay a dime to get those two back."
Hammond was silent for a thoughtful moment. "All right, we'll give it one more day. If things have not improved by tomorrow morning, I'll have no choice but to let the delegates go, then try to explain to my superiors why the trade agreement failed." The general looked at his watch. "You'd better get outfitted for your mission."
A while later, SG-1 stepped through the gate onto P2X-887. There followed a little adventure in which the team found themselves trapped inside an underground base. Upon reaching the area where the base was supposed to be, they had found no sign of it, but did find evidence of recent Jaffa activity. Teal'c had been trying the device that was supposed to give them access to the base, and it ended up activating transport rings that took them deep underground. When they got there, they couldn't find the control panel for the rings. If it hadn't been for Daniel's ability to sense where the hidden controls were, they might have been trapped down there for days.
Once the control panel was found and it was confirmed that they could get out, the team turned their attention back to their mission objective. Unfortunately, not a single weapon or other useful piece of equipment was found.
Disappointed, they gated back to the SGC – and right smack dab into another adventure. It seemed that the plant Bill Lee had been so fascinated with was growing out of control. All of Level 19 had been turned into a jungle, and the plant was still growing, apparently spreading airborne spores throughout the base via the ventilation shafts. So far, all efforts to kill the thing had failed. Not even fire had done much to kill it.
At least one good thing did happen amidst the problems. When the Amoran delegates were released from the VIP room the next morning, their attitude was a great deal more subdued. Apparently, spending two days in each other's constant company had succeeded in allowing the men to get past their hostility toward each other and find some things in common. Though they couldn't be called friends, they were no longer enemies and were much more willing to negotiate. Because of the situation with the plant, it was decided to postpone the trade agreement talks until after the problem was resolved. The two men were sent home through the gate.
By late afternoon that day, the base had lost all power to the control systems. The plant had spread inside the walls and was interfering with power and communications. Because the thing was feeding off the light, they kept the base on minimal emergency lighting with the hope that it would curb its growth.
"Can't you do anything about this?" Jack complained to Daniel after he gave up trying to reach the commissary because the elevators were down and the staircase was hopelessly clogged with plant life.
"Like what? It's a plant, Jack, and we've already seen that fire has limited effectiveness. Besides, as big as it is now, if I tried to burn the whole thing, we'd all die from smoke inhalation."
"Yeah, well, if something isn't done soon, someday in the future, someone will hack their way down here with machetes and find us all swallowed up by our own private version of Little Shop of Horrors."
"Hey, it could be worse," Daniel told him.
"How?"
"It isn't actually eating anyone." The archeologist held up his finger. "And don't you dare call me 'Seymour'."
"Wouldn't dream of it. That name belongs solely to Bill Lee. This . . . thing," Jack waved his hand around at the plant, "is his little pet."
It wasn't long after that, that things did get worse. The plant didn't eat anyone, but it was discovered that the dialing computer was offline. Siler guessed that a circuit board got fried when they tried to restore power to the system.
"Incoming wormholes will connect, and we can still receive radio communication and IDC's," Harriman explained, "but. . . ."
"The iris?" Jack asked.
"Manual control."
"What about dialing the gate?" Hammond questioned. "Can it be done manually?"
"Um, that's a problem," Siler replied. "The inner ring seems to be locked in place. We tried disconnecting the control interface, but. . . ."
"There was a gate diagnostic running when the power went down," Harriman explained. "It could be something to do with the commands being exchanged at the time."
"So, we can't dial out," Sam concluded.
"I guess we'd better hope that we won't need to for some reason," Daniel said.
Hammond turned to Sam. "See what you can do to help, Major."
"Yes, sir."
Sam and Siler managed to get the dialing computer back online early the next morning. Later that day, Doctor Lee discovered that gamma radiation could kill the plant, which almost sent Jack skipping with joy down the SGC corridors. The scientists prepared a method of delivering a strong enough dosage of radiation to the entire base all at once so that they could kill all of the plant at the same time, which would keep it from regaining a foothold. Nonessential personnel were evacuated, and everyone else donned protective suits.
The radiation worked like a dream, completely wiping out the plant. With it finally eradicated, attention was turned back to the president's visit. General Hammond had planned on canceling the visit if the situation with the plant could not be resolved, but had decided to hold off as long as possible.
The next day was a madhouse at the SGC. Everything that couldn't be done during the previous three days because of the plant all had to be packed into that one day. People were running around here and there, hanging bunting, cleaning up the messes caused by the plant, setting up the area in the commissary for the buffet, and more. SG-1 stayed out of the way by spending most of the day either in Daniel's office or Sam's lab. Daniel's teammates could tell that he was feeling a little nervous about the Medal of Freedom award and tried to keep his mind off it as much as possible.
"Relax, Daniel," Sam told him after dinner that night. "Everything will be fine."
The archeologist sighed. "I'm just not comfortable with receiving public praise. I never have been. Not that it happened all that often. I mean, sure, I like to be told that I did a good job, but this kind of thing, receiving awards. . . ." He shook his head. "I'd rather just be working in my office."
Sam smiled softly at the man she loved. She knew that Daniel was the kind of person who got embarrassed by effusive praise, so his attitude about the award really wasn't that big of a surprise. She wished that she could think of a way to make him feel more at ease about it.
That's when a thought occurred to her. Smiling more broadly, she sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck.
"I have an idea," she said.
Daniel grinned. "An idea, huh? Just remember, Sam. Jack told us to arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning, so we have to get at least some sleep tonight."
The astrophysicist slapped his shoulder. "That's not what I was talking about."
Her lover put on a fake disappointed look. "Too bad. So, what's your idea?"
"While the president makes the presentation, think about all those people who laughed at you and your theories, the ones who called you crazy, then picture the looks on their faces if they could be there, watching you receive an award that they could never hope to get."
As Daniel thought about that, a smile began growing on his face. Imagining what all those people in the archeological community would think if they knew that he was receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom was pretty funny. And he had to admit that a part of him would really enjoy it. He wanted to receive vindication for his theories. It wasn't of great importance to him, but it was something that he hoped would happen someday, even if it was long after he was dead.
"Thanks, Sam. I think that will help."
Sam gave him a kiss. "Good." Her smiled changed to a sultry one. She lifted up and shifted her position, now straddling his legs. She pressed her hips tightly against Daniel. He gripped her waist, his eyes darkening with desire. "So, exactly how bright-eyed and bushy-tailed do we need to be in the morning?"
"Oh, I'd say four or five hours of sleep should be plenty enough," Daniel responded before taking Sam's mouth in a heated kiss.
Daniel and Sam did manage to get those five hours of sleep. When they arrived at the SGC, they found that the place was still a madhouse as everyone tried to get the remaining things done before the president's arrival at 11 a.m.
Around forty minutes before Hayes was due to arrive, Daniel went to the locker room to change into his suit. Jack was there, putting on his dress blues.
"Nice suit," the colonel commented. "I bet that set you back a pretty penny."
"I bought it for my first date with Sam."
"Ah. Then I'm sure it was worth every cent." Jack looked at him more closely. "So, you doin' okay?"
"Yeah. Nervous. You don't have to worry about me passing out or anything, though."
"That's good. Wouldn't want you to miss my brilliant speech. I think I did a damn fine job on it, even if I do say so myself."
"I'm almost afraid to hear it."
"Ah, yes. I had to curb myself from calling you a pain in the ass. It wasn't easy, though."
"I bet."
Jack patted Daniel's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Daniel. Trust me." He slipped on his freshly polished shoes and got to his feet. "Now, don't be late. Wouldn't want to keep the president waiting."
"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said softly, a wealth of meaning in the statement.
Jack looked at him, smiling slightly. "You are very welcome, Doctor Jackson."
Right on time, the president's helicopter arrived. SG-1, Hammond, Major Davis and the president's Advance Man, Colonel John Prior, were waiting for him at the main entrance. Hayes came forward with a smile.
"Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Mister President," Hammond greeted.
Hayes shook his hand. "Thank you, George. I'm dying to see the place." He shook the hands of the others.
"Right this way, sir," the general instructed.
The group headed into the mountain, passing through the security checkpoints while Major Davis explained how the security measures worked. Soon, they were on the second elevator heading down into the lower levels.
The tour of the base went well, the president impressed with everything he saw. As they entered the gate room, Hayes' gaze locked upon the Stargate.
"So, that's it," he said.
"Yes, sir," Hammond responded
"You'd never know by looking at it that it is something of such great power. It's hard to believe that the power to travel across the galaxy in mere seconds is contained within it." He drew his eyes away from the gate and turned to the others, smiling. "So, do I get to see it in action?"
Hammond also smiled. "Of course, sir. Let's go up to the control room."
Hayes' eyes went everywhere as they entered the control room. "This is quite the setup, George."
"Yes, it is, sir. If there's anything specific that you'd like to know about the systems, Major Carter would be happy to explain."
Hayes raised his hands and gave a little chuckle. "No thanks, George. I'm afraid that most of it would go right over my head. I'm content just to know that it works."
Hammond turned to Walter Harriman. "Begin dialing the gate, Sergeant."
"Yes, sir," Walter said, sitting up a little straighter in his chair.
As the dialing sequence began, everyone turned to the view beyond the window. President Hayes watched as the inner ring turned, the chevrons lighting up one at a time.
"Chevron seven locked," the sergeant announced at last. With a roar familiar to everyone in the control room except the president and his party, the Stargate engaged. Hayes started slightly at the whoosh of the opening wormhole. As the gate settled down, he stared at the shimmering blue event horizon.
"Wow," he said.
"That about sums it up, sir," Hammond said, smiling.
"I'd like to go down there, get a closer look."
"Certainly, sir. Doctor Jackson, why don't you take him."
Daniel and the president went back to the gate room and walked up the ramp until they were within arm's reach of the event horizon. The president gazed at the rippling blue surface in fascination.
"You can touch it, if you want," Daniel told him.
"I can?"
"Uh huh."
Hayes cautiously reached a hand out and touched the event horizon with his fingertips.
"Amazing," he murmured.
"I remember the first time I went through," Daniel said. "I was the last one to step through, and I stood right were you are for the longest time and just touched it." He smiled. "Jack was probably wondering what was taking me so long."
"What does it feel like to go through?"
"It's hard to explain. It's like no other feeling in the universe. It's terrifying and exciting all at the same time, the ultimate roller coaster ride. Until you get used to it, you feel chilled to the bone when you reach the other side, and you can sometimes feel sick. I know I did first time."
Hayes smiled slightly. "I have to admit that I'd love to go through, to step onto the face of another world." The smile faded. "But I fear that I'd cause a few heart attacks if I did. More than one person at the White House had a fit when I even dared to mention it."
Daniel smiled in understanding. Then his expression changed. He glanced back over his shoulder, up at the control room.
"Do you trust me, Mister President?"
Hayes looked at him. "Of course."
"Do you trust that I can keep you safe?"
The president's gaze sharpened. "Doctor Jackson, I think I can say that my life would be safer in your keeping than in the company of an army of Secret Service agents. Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"If you're willing, sir."
"You know, I really should say no. I know that I'm never going to hear the end of it." He grinned. "But what the hell. You only live once . . . well, most of us do, anyway."
"Hold onto my arm, then."
As the president grasped Daniel's forearm, Jack got a sudden feeling what was about to happen. Before he could say anything, Hayes and the archeologist took a step forward and disappeared into the event horizon.
In a moment that seemed both like eternity and a mere instant of time, President Henry Hayes traversed the galaxy in a wild, frightening, heart-pumping ride that left him cold, nauseous, and totally exhilarated on the other side.
"Holy cow!" he gasped, taking a few deep breaths in an attempted to settle his upset stomach. He looked at Daniel, who appeared to be complete unfazed by the experience. "That was some rush!"
The archeologist grinned at him.
Just then, the gate shut down. Hayes looked around at the landscape, moving forward a few paces, Daniel at his side. "It looks just like Earth."
"In many ways, most of the planets we go to do look like something you'd see on Earth. Jack often remarks about how common trees appear to be. However, that's not something you'd see on Earth."
Hayes turned to look where Daniel was pointing, which was behind them. He was startled to see the faint image of two huge moons in the sky. That's when it really hit him that he was standing on an alien planet.
"How far are we from Earth?" he asked.
"Um, around five thousand light-years, I think."
"Five thousand." The president looked around again, taking everything in, knowing that this was likely the one and only time he'd ever get to do this.
"If we had time, I'd show you around. There are some ruins just over that ridge and a waterfall almost twice the height of any found on Earth."
Hayes studied his face. "You love it, don't you, traveling through the gate, exploring other worlds."
"Yes. Even those first two and a half years, when my main goal was finding and saving my wife, I still loved it. There is no adventure on Earth that can compare to this. Yes, it can be dangerous. We risk our lives every time we go through, but the wonders that we see, the things we discover, makes it all worthwhile."
Hayes met his eyes. "Thank you, Doctor Jackson. I will never forget this."
"You're welcome, sir."
"Well, I guess we'd better get back," the president said regretfully.
"Yes, we probably should, but I'm afraid we can't go straight back to the SGC. I don't have a GDO or a radio, so we can't send a signal telling them that it's us. They won't open the iris."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"Well, we could wait here. I'm sure it wouldn't take long for a team to be put together to come get us. Or we could go to the Alpha Site and go home from there."
"Let's go to the Alpha Site. I might as well take a quick peek at it while I'm out here."
To say that the people stationed at the Alpha Site were shocked to see the President of the United States walk through the Stargate would have been an understatement. Even so, they quickly gave Daniel a GDO when he asked for one.
As the Stargate dialed up, Hayes took a last look around, committing everything to memory.
"Ready to go, sir?" Daniel asked as the gate engaged.
Hayes met his eyes, seeing the understanding there. He nodded. "Let's go home."
