Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret Life of a Major General ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

Gateroom, Level 28, SGC, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, CO
February 21, 2005
Afternoon

Jack tugged at his collar as he looked around the decorated gateroom. SGC personnel in dress uniforms and visiting alien dignitaries in their regalia. This event was an official celebration of the end of the replicators and the sure fall of the Goa’uld empire with the defeat of Anubis as informed by a recently descended Daniel.

Beyond Ba’al—Anubis had terminated all the other system lords and a great majority of minor goa’uld lords, leaving the Goa’uld empire in shambles. And while Ba’al would most likely still prove a nuisance, a great majority of his Jaffa had defected to the Free Jaffa Nation and brought even more of his resources and armaments with them.

While currently the only known shadow had been the recent passing of Catherine Langford he knew some of his news would put a further, but hopefully temporary, damper on the personnel’s high spirits. Finally approaching the podium himself after the speech from the president representative, he looked at the sea of faces before him.

Girdling his loins about public speaking Jack addressed the men and women gathered before him. Thanking them for the service they had done and what being with them had given him personally, and as a commander. Within a short time, he reached the end of his speech and finished with two concluding remarks regarding Catherine and the base’s new commanding officer.

“Before concluding I would like to have a moment of silence for the recent passing of a great woman, Catherine Langford.” Respectfully SGC personnel came to attention and observed a minute of silence all knowing that if it had not been for her instance and funding, the program they were involved in would never have come to be.

“I will continue now with some other unfortunate news,” Jack broke the silence a minute later. “Due to health conditions General Hammond is stepping down from the position of Head of Homeworld Security. At his, and the president’s urging, I have accepted the position and will now introduce you to your new commanding officer. Major General Hank Landry.”

Gesturing to the man in question in the line of officers standing to the side of the ’gate he stepped from behind the podium and allowed Landry to take his place and begin his introductory speech.

It was the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

Thirty days later on the bridge of the Niflheim Jack rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for Hel to enter the bridge with the two children who were undergoing one last biometric scan.

“You have completed your move to your nation’s capital?” Thor inquired from beside him.

“Yeah,” Jack answered calling to mind the task of sorting and then moving his possessions from Colorado to D.C. There was no point in placing anything in storage as with the further frayed ties between his former teammates there was nothing to hold him to Colorado any longer.

Teal’c already belonged with the Free Jaffa Nation and shortly after announcing the change in command of SGC he had learned that Carter had requested a transfer to R&D in Nevada. It seemed the soon to be wed-colonel was looking to settle into marriage life by getting a more steady job herself. Daniel was consumed by his research about the Lost City and most likely was more than a little relieved to be able to finally devote his full attention to his project.

He had placed on the market and already had some prospective buyers examine it and the realtor assured him that given the location and price, it should sell soon. With Kerry’s help, he had acquired a modest four-bedroom house in the Alexandria suburbs a twenty-some minute commute in good traffic to his new office in the rebuilt D-ring of the Pentagon. The necessary furniture, for himself and his children, had been delivered the day before. The other toddler necessities, diapers, appropriately sized clothing, and toys, like the house had been bought with Kerry’s assistance. A middle child in a large family the CIA agent had grown up surrounded by children and was more than aware about what they needed. A godsend in his opinion as it had been years since Charlie had been a toddler and even then Sara had been the one managing the household.

Finally hearing footsteps, Jack swivelled on his heels and found himself staring at the two small children clinging to the guiding hands of Hel. There was a frailness to the children’s smaller than usual bodies that he could only attribute to being born—grown really—in tanks. Already dressed in the clothes he had brought onboard, they looked at him with grey and brown eyes set in nearly identical fine boned faces topped by wispy golden-brown hair.

“This is Tyler, O’Neill,” Hel intoned as she held the hand of the child to her right wearing the orange shirt towards him. Not sure of when he had moved, Jack found himself on his knees before the toddler. Even before he had settled, he found his arms full of the small grey-eyed boy as the child flung himself into his arms.

Looking at Hel in surprise at the child’s reaction, eerily silent though it was, and found the little girl on the asgärd’s left wearing the blue shirt looking at him longingly. Brown eyes beginning to glisten with the onset of tears.

“And this is Emily, O’Neill,” Hel stated simply as she released the girl’s hand.

Soon Jack found his arms full of not only Tyler but Emily as well.

“To easy the transfer I have impressed you into their minds.”

“Impressed?” Jack demanded sharply as he gathered the two small bodies closer to him.

“It is no different than the bond that develops between a human parent and an offspring. It would be easier on the children to adapt to life with you if they already regarded you as their parent.” Hel answered.

Jack curtly nodded in understanding but did not like the further meddling with the children’s brains. He turned his eyes towards Thor who correctly interpreted the man’s wordless request and beamed the newly made family to their new home.

After the light from the transportation beam had faded from the bridge, Thor addressed Hel.

“You seem to have put much thought into placing the children with O’Neill. I thought you would have difficulties… given your lineage and allegiance.”

Hel shot the supreme commander a pitying look. “What is done is done. Moreover, if we are to survive as a people we most not do things the Æsir way, Vanir way, or Jötnar way but the Asgärd way.”

“And what is the Asgärd way?”

“That is something that we must still find.” Hel answered tiredly. Moving to the console of her ship she touched a few of the keys, adjusted a few stones, and looked at the holographic display the developed in the centre of the bridge.

Still kneeling, O’Neill cradled the two toddlers to his chest as they clung to him with equal fervour. His head was bowed and she would not be surprised if the great warrior had tears in his eyes. For truly great heroes were more than just warriors who excelled at the art of warfare, but cared for those they took into their hearts.

The two children were still silent, but the more they were around O’Neill and the more he spoke the buried triggers in their mind related to the development of language would be triggered and they would begin speaking. The girl would be more articulate than the boy, but that was the nature of human children and would raise no alarms.

And while she had been tempted to give them Asgärd she had restrained herself. The human brain was delicate and the young even more so. The imprinting of O’Neill and embedding of English had had enough risks. She would not allow any more to threaten the wellbeing of Lífthrasier and Líf.

So for now she would have Niflheim take up orbit on the far side of the planet’s moon to maintain watch. Soon however she would be trading Niflheim for the flagship of the new Carter-class ships. Like the Jackson-class this new ship design was at heart a scientific vessel, but with greater fire power though still significantly less than the O’Neill-class battleships. It would also be the first ship design in eons that had not been developed solely with combating the replicators in mind. As she understood it, the spaceflight and engineering departments were quite looking forward to stretching their minds.