Announce11 (w/ spoilers for season 7 and probably 8, too)
Jack had barely clammored into the back seat when the SUV lurched forward, speeding away from the school and pressing the clone into his seat. "Whoa, Reeses, what's the rush?"
While Jack buckled in, Matt spun around in his seat to stare into the back. "Jonathan?"
Jack looked up again, more than used to responding to his formal first name again. "Matt King?"
Both looked toward the driver, and Matt grinned. "I told you he knew."
Jack's eyes widened in confusion, and he festured to Matt, who he had always thought of as just another high school football player. "Reeses, how does he know?" He paused, his eyes growing wider. "What does he know?"
Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Although it's nice you two finally know each other, we've got bigger problems to worry about." The two boys watched her in silence, Sarah's tone causing ice to settle in their stomachs. "There's a Ha'tak sitting out by Neptune."
Matt's face showed no recognition; he had never heard of Ha'taks. Jack, however, leaned back in his seat again, thinking. "Just one?"
Sarah nodded. "That's the good news. We might be able to take out a force that small, even though Prometheus and half the F-302s were severely damaged in Anubis's attack."
"Anubis attacked?" he repeated, feeling more out-of-the-loop than ever.
"Yeah. A mothership and countless Ha'taks, all destroyed by a superweapon in Antarctica," Sarah reported. "But the power source to that is about dead, not to mention we have no one who can operate it. There's only one ship now, so that would be overkill anyway." She sighed. "The rest of the good news is that it's probably not Ba'al or any other system lord.
"Ba'al as in the snake-head who killed me over and..." Jack wondered.
"Yes."
Though he didn't know half of what was going on, Matt still tried to follow the conversation. "Bad news usually follows that much good news, especially when you and Vinnet are so shook up," he observed.
A hint of a smile appeared on her face but quickly left. "The bad news is that it seems to be waiting for something either here or elsewhere, presumably backup, but why they'd wait here is beyond me."
"To make sure no one leaves?" Matt guessed.
Sarah shook her head. "It's even easier to leave through the Stargate." Matt nodded, leaving Jack to wonder how he knew about the ancient device. "There's more," she continued. "Now that people are aware of Tok'ra, they're going to expect to see Supreme Councilor Per'sus leave. Last I heard, no one at the SGC had any ideas of what to do." SHe sighed again, trying to convince herself that she could do nothing, but she knew it might be possible for her to contribute. "And since it's probably not a system lord," she added slowly, almost hesitantly, "I can't help but wonder if it's Banebdjedet or his master, Nepthys."
Matt frowned, recognizing the names long before Jack did. "I hope he doesn't have any more business with the NID."
As Jack continued to be confused, Sarah shook her head dismissively. "Even if he thinks he does, the shol'vah he was dealing with should all be in jail."
Before Jack could add any comment, Sarah's phone rang, intoning a simplified version of "Across the Stars." As quick as she could bring the pone from her purse to her ear and press the green button, she answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a minute, the SUV's speed steadily decreasing, even though the next traffic light was still green. As the light gradually turned red and traffic in the next lane sped past for a couple more second, she stopped the car and closed her eyes. "Okay, I understand. Thanks." With that, she hung up and concentrated on her driving when the right turn indicator turned green.
"Who was it?" Matt inquired after a couple more turns into another residential area.
The Tok'ra drew in a deep breath. "That was Sam. I guess par tof her news isn't as terrible as it could be, but..." While she had lived through a few family deaths, this somehow seemed worse. Vinnet had shared her grief then, of course, but she had never known Sarha's grandparents. Now that they both knew the deceased, Sarah felt overwhelmed with emotion. It was as overpowering as the loss the two had felt after Setira's death, but even sharper since she'd seen him twice in the past year. "Gavan died. Just after Per'sus and his entourage arriaved back at the base, it was attacked. Gavan was hit, but Vandrof made it out."
Jack had barely clammored into the back seat when the SUV lurched forward, speeding away from the school and pressing the clone into his seat. "Whoa, Reeses, what's the rush?"
While Jack buckled in, Matt spun around in his seat to stare into the back. "Jonathan?"
Jack looked up again, more than used to responding to his formal first name again. "Matt King?"
Both looked toward the driver, and Matt grinned. "I told you he knew."
Jack's eyes widened in confusion, and he festured to Matt, who he had always thought of as just another high school football player. "Reeses, how does he know?" He paused, his eyes growing wider. "What does he know?"
Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Although it's nice you two finally know each other, we've got bigger problems to worry about." The two boys watched her in silence, Sarah's tone causing ice to settle in their stomachs. "There's a Ha'tak sitting out by Neptune."
Matt's face showed no recognition; he had never heard of Ha'taks. Jack, however, leaned back in his seat again, thinking. "Just one?"
Sarah nodded. "That's the good news. We might be able to take out a force that small, even though Prometheus and half the F-302s were severely damaged in Anubis's attack."
"Anubis attacked?" he repeated, feeling more out-of-the-loop than ever.
"Yeah. A mothership and countless Ha'taks, all destroyed by a superweapon in Antarctica," Sarah reported. "But the power source to that is about dead, not to mention we have no one who can operate it. There's only one ship now, so that would be overkill anyway." She sighed. "The rest of the good news is that it's probably not Ba'al or any other system lord.
"Ba'al as in the snake-head who killed me over and..." Jack wondered.
"Yes."
Though he didn't know half of what was going on, Matt still tried to follow the conversation. "Bad news usually follows that much good news, especially when you and Vinnet are so shook up," he observed.
A hint of a smile appeared on her face but quickly left. "The bad news is that it seems to be waiting for something either here or elsewhere, presumably backup, but why they'd wait here is beyond me."
"To make sure no one leaves?" Matt guessed.
Sarah shook her head. "It's even easier to leave through the Stargate." Matt nodded, leaving Jack to wonder how he knew about the ancient device. "There's more," she continued. "Now that people are aware of Tok'ra, they're going to expect to see Supreme Councilor Per'sus leave. Last I heard, no one at the SGC had any ideas of what to do." SHe sighed again, trying to convince herself that she could do nothing, but she knew it might be possible for her to contribute. "And since it's probably not a system lord," she added slowly, almost hesitantly, "I can't help but wonder if it's Banebdjedet or his master, Nepthys."
Matt frowned, recognizing the names long before Jack did. "I hope he doesn't have any more business with the NID."
As Jack continued to be confused, Sarah shook her head dismissively. "Even if he thinks he does, the shol'vah he was dealing with should all be in jail."
Before Jack could add any comment, Sarah's phone rang, intoning a simplified version of "Across the Stars." As quick as she could bring the pone from her purse to her ear and press the green button, she answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a minute, the SUV's speed steadily decreasing, even though the next traffic light was still green. As the light gradually turned red and traffic in the next lane sped past for a couple more second, she stopped the car and closed her eyes. "Okay, I understand. Thanks." With that, she hung up and concentrated on her driving when the right turn indicator turned green.
"Who was it?" Matt inquired after a couple more turns into another residential area.
The Tok'ra drew in a deep breath. "That was Sam. I guess par tof her news isn't as terrible as it could be, but..." While she had lived through a few family deaths, this somehow seemed worse. Vinnet had shared her grief then, of course, but she had never known Sarha's grandparents. Now that they both knew the deceased, Sarah felt overwhelmed with emotion. It was as overpowering as the loss the two had felt after Setira's death, but even sharper since she'd seen him twice in the past year. "Gavan died. Just after Per'sus and his entourage arriaved back at the base, it was attacked. Gavan was hit, but Vandrof made it out."
In the hope of keeping tears from the driver's eyes, Vinnet surfaced. She tossed the cell phone to Matt; it would do no good for the alien to speak to any other Tau'ri at the moment, especially since she didn't care to make the effort to mask her voice. "Call David. Tell him to meet us in the park when he leaves work." Before he could begin, she continued, "Jonath--Jack, I will drop you off at the SGC after it is dark. Sam said it would probably benefit them to have another O'Neill in the vicinity."
"Just like they did when Anubis attacked," the clone growled.
Vinnet rolled her eyes. "We were are preoccupied. The SGC was having a difficult time pacing one O'Neill; they would have gone insane with two. Since Jack is tied down now, you are suddenly remembered, thgouh I doubt the General knows you are coming."
Jack shrugged. "I think I always got on Hammon's bad said; maybe it's better this way."
Vinnet shook her head. "I was not referring to General Hammond; the general I spoke of was Brigadier General O'Neill."
No comments:
Post a Comment