MEMOIRS OF
BRIGADIER GENERAL JACK O’NEILL
(Retired)
Part IV
Chapter Three
By Arrietty
2006
I heard the burst of the event horizon erupting before I saw it. This was not good news. That meant Baal had got there first. I was dead on my feet; I knew if I stopped I would not be able to get going again and by the looks of Daniel and Carter they felt the same. I had lost feeling in my feet and hands an hour or so ago and my lungs had started to burn again. I noticed Carter and Daniel coughing. With dread, I realized they were suffering from the same problem I’d had previously. The masks were not working, the blizzard was too strong. I coughed again and I felt the metallic taste in my mouth. I just hoped the children were okay, but they were all bundled up inside blankets so hopefully they would be all right. I closed my mind to the fact that Carter was sick and that I might lose her all over again.
Teal’c and a few of our group went ahead to check out the Stargate which was just over a large snowdrift. I am sure that hadn’t been there when we arrived. They were gone only a few minutes. They quickly motioned us to crouch down onto the ground and keep very still. I felt my knees give out on me halfway down and found myself sitting on the cold hard ground. Carter sat beside me and leaned against me. I could feel the vibration of her coughing and shivering. That dreaded feeling worked its way into my innards again. I couldn’t lose Carter again.
After a few moments, Teal’c motioned us on. This time it was me that pulled Carter up and pushed her along to get her moving. Talk about the blind leading the blind. When we arrived at the Stargate there was no sign of Baal or his Jaffa anywhere. Too tired to enquire, we followed the others through the wormhole. Most probably for the first time, the process of going through the wormhole was not freezing.
~*~
I woke to hear distressing words being spoken near me.
“Don’t you dare, Sam. Stay with us.”
“Doc?” I croaked out.
I groggily sat up. Once again I had an oxygen mask over my face and I could see Daniel was in a bed on one side of me and Sam was on the other. Jacob was sitting on a chair, he looking haggard and drained. Daniel seemed to be asleep. I looked around the rest of the room. All forty-four children were in beds and none had sheets pulled over their heads. I let out a sigh of relief at this.
“Jacob, can’t you do anything?”
“No, Janet, this is past Selmac’s or my expertise.” His voice broke on the last word.
I heard the word “No!” screamed out at Jacob’s words. I quickly looked at Daniel to see if he had said it, but when I looked back at Sam, they were all looking at me.
My throat was sore; it had been me who had cried out. I struggled out of the bed, yanking the mask off as I went. My legs shook with weakness as I stood over Sam and looked into her face. The damage that the snow had done to her face had been healed; Jacob must have used the healing device, but not enough to save her. No one could understand why or how she had succumbed to this. As far was we could tell, she had taken all precautions. I could hear the steady beat of her heart monitor beside her bed falter and then stop. I shook my head in disbelief, went back to my bed and fell onto the mattress and didn’t move.
~*~
It was five weeks later before I could finally breathe without coughing or vomiting. I watched Jacob wilt with grief. I always knew if it was Jacob or Selmac in control by the stance of the man. I could give him no support during this time as I needed it myself. Daniel was no help either. Sadness pervaded the encampment. I didn’t need this, that is why I had left Earth, to get away from-
~*~
2025
Right that’s it, I’m done. No more of this. This is not helping one iota.
~*~
“What do you mean?”
“I said get your butt in here, Jack O’Neill.”
“You sound like my mother.”
“I will take that as a compliment as your mother was a very nice lady.”
“Well, it wasn’t a-“
“What was that, Jack? I didn’t hear you.”
“Nothing.”
“Good. And you can remove that innocent look off your face, I know exactly what you are thinking and you are not going to get away with it.”
“This isn’t working.”
“It’s not working, because you haven’t finished. Come on, I have switched it on for you. Sometimes you behave just like a big baby.”
“Okay I will do it, now go away and leave a man in peace.”
“Remember we are visiting Daniel in two hours.”
“No, I haven’t forgotten. Go…shooo!”
~*~
2006
I decided to go for a trek up into the hills. I needed time to think, to get away from this camp. The sadness that permeated the whole camp was infectious, even the children seemed to be affected by it. I wanted to take some supplies with me, so I pulled out my pack from under my bunk; I hadn’t looked at it for weeks. The first thing that I remembered was Mariam’s egg pie, something I didn’t have much choice in forgetting as the smell competed with the green fur balls of Kelowna. That went down the rubbish pit very quickly. At least it created a few laughs in the camp. The sight of a general running through the camp yelling “Gangway”, holding out a container of something smelling disgusting was enough to get anyone laughing, except the said general.
Fortunately the egg pie had been sealed in a container, so the rest of my gear was stink-free. I pulled out my clean clothes that Mariam had so kindly washed and found at the bottom of the bag was the three technological objects that I had retrieved from the mud planet. The second one I picked up immediately began to hum and lit up as soon as I touched it. It was almost identical to the doohickey that I had touched in the cave. A feeling of hope traveled through me as I realized just what this would mean. I might be able to go home.
Without hesitating I shoved all my things back in my pack and retrieved my weapons from the weapon shed. As I left the shed, I had a committee of people waiting for me.
Daniel, Teal’c, Doc and Jacob.
“Where are you going, Jack?”
“What is it with you, Daniel? You are like my mother, you can read my mind.” I rolled my eyes to emphasis my displeasure.
“O’Neill, we do not wish you to go.”
“I am sorry, Teal’c, but I think I have found a way home. I need to go. This place isn’t my home. I have been away from Earth without contacting them far too long already.”
I looked out over the compound. The bigger children had formed two teams and were playing baseball in the centre of the camp. There was laughter and happy shouting as one of the children made a home run. Rya’c was coaching them on how to play the game. They didn’t need this old crotchety general moping around the camp. They needed to get on with their lives with Tok’ra, Jaffa and Tau’ri all together, one big happy family.
“I just want to say two things to you all. Get on with your lives here, forget about the Goa’uld for now, and make a life here. The second, keep away from that creepy forest, there is definitely something not good in there.”
No one laughed, but solemnly nodded goodbye. I don’t like long goodbyes, so I quickly turned on my heel and walked straight to the kitchens. After I had taken what I needed in supplies I made my way to the cave at the base of the hills.
It hadn’t changed, the guard was still standing not far from the entrance. They were extra especially vigilant now that I had come through, they didn’t know if anyone else would make use of the mirror.
It wasn’t until I had gone into the cave that I become conscious of the fact that someone else was in there.
“Daniel, what do you want?”
“You left rather suddenly.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I waited.
“Do you need help with that gizmo?”
“Gizmo?” One of my eyebrows rose, “Where on Earth did you hear that word?”
“You actually. Well, not you, but the other you. Our you. Well not our you, but the other you-“
“Ack! Okay, I get it, Daniel,” I held up my hands to him, “No, I don’t need any help. I know what to do.”
I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up in front of me. “I touch this panel here on the gizmo, and then I touch this glass here on the pillar…huh?”
Daniel was still in front of me.
“What just happened, Daniel?”
“Nothing.”
“Bye, Daniel.” I smiled
This time I moved the wheel on the control and touched the mirror again. The room began to spin and swirl like it had before and I fell to the ground unconscious.
When I awakened, I found myself alone in a room full of gadgets like before.
“Whew!” I let out a big puff of air. There sitting on the ground was the control that I had dropped before. I could see strange footprints in the dust, but I had no idea who had caused them.
Without hesitating, I quickly moved towards the opening of the cave and I looked out into thick long grass. “That is the same at least,” I spoke to myself. Glancing over to the dark wooded area, I continued talking to myself, “That’s the same too.” The sun was sinking slowly in the sky and I knew I had to get a move on if I wanted to get to the Stargate before sunset.
I marched quickly through the long grass humming, ‘Follow the yellow brick road’ under my breath.
~*~
As I dialed Kelowna, I wondered how the Grenuts had survived. Knowing the Kelownan’s speed in deciding how to do anything, most probably they were still alive and kicking. The thought did not fill me with great joy.
This time, there was no fighting in the Stargate room, but there were the usual armed guards waiting to see what the wormhole produced.
“Howdy folks,” I cheerily waved a hand in the air, and then two as they clicked the safety catches off their weapons. These guards had no idea who I was, “I am a friend of Jonas Quinn.”
They didn’t flinch or move. ‘Uh oh.’ “Could someone get Jonas or whoever is in charge here? Please,” I added, giving them my best smile.
2025
“Jack, can you give me a hand?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there. What’s up?”
“It’s this air conditioning unit again, it keeps making a weird noise and I am fed up with asking the techies to fix it. So I’m going to do it myself.”
“That’s my girl. What do you need me for?”
“Muscle.”
“Oh I got lots of that.”
“Hey!”
“Yes.”
“Put me down. Now! Anyway, you left the computer on. Ouch! When I said put me down, I didn’t mean like-“
~*~
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