Mutiny of the Bounties

Set: Season 4

Spoilers: None that I'm aware of! - And at this late stage, would it really be relevant?

Disclaimer: SG1, the SGC & sundry personnel belong to MGM, Gekko and the actors who so wonderfully portray the characters. I just get to play with them for a short while (cries forlornly into pillow). The rest of the loonies are solely the fault of yours truly and are not intended to resemble any living person! - Well Duh!

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A/N: And the clock (plot) slowly ticks its way towards midnight …

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Chapter 25: Uncomfortably Numb!

Seshat ground her host's teeth tightly together as she stretched her self control beyond its usual limits. However, enough was more than quite enough!

"Desist your infernal NOISE!" she yelled.

The peace that instantly followed was a balm to her sore brain. A part of her was amused and pleased at the shock she managed to induce in the press of sentient life around her.

The rest of her was still too pissed to notice.

"Out! All of you! I have no need for your interminable chatter disrupting my work and obfuscating my thoughts! Eilan'ee, you too. Take Aldwin and go and play. I need order NOW!"

Eilain'ee hurried to remove the crowd of Tau'ri, goa'uld and Tok'ra from the clinical laboratory, taking especial delight in pushing the vehemently protesting Anise and Captain Holt roughly from the room.

"You, Carters! You remain! The rest of you, begone!"

Once the doors had closed between the mass of protesting lifeforms and the lab, Seshat allowed herself a deep sigh of relief as she closed her eyes briefly and stretched her back to relieve the tension which had built up over the past two hours.

Sam stared at her father for a moment before asking quietly, "Do you need my assistance with anything?"

Seshat ran a hand roughly through her immaculate hair and sighed. "Yes. I have identified all the components for the poison Ihy used on Daniel, with the exception of one."

She glanced up at the people before her. "The missing ingredient is, of course, critical. I have been attempting to synthesize compounds with suitable attributes, but I've isolated the hallucinogenic properties to an extract of quocolestrathal, a synthesized version of an insectoid venom common only to a small planet in the Beta quadrant – Celostral in colloquial terms. Once we have the last component, it should only be a small matter to generate the antidote."

"And until then?" Sam asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Until then, we hope O'Neal and Daniel can come up with the answer!"

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"Suspend disbelief, all ye who enter!" Jack read as he brushed the cobwebs from the gothic style arched doorway leading into the crypt.

"Creepy!" he said to himself, wondering which part of Daniel's over-stuffed brain was responsible for this manifestation. "That boy really needs a life that doesn't involve dust, cobwebs and mummies!"

He walked through a rather cosy sitting room, strewn with large tomes and what looked to be lecture notes, stopping to take a suspicious sniff of the contents of a glass before finishing the wine remaining.

"I could get used to living in a place like this – supposing my brain was anything like this." Looking around for the non-existent television he continued: "Then again…!"

He made his way across to what he thought was the far end of the room, only to find it warping around him into a vast cavern structure full of atmospheric brimstone and fire.

"Geez! What's with the guilty conscience, Danny? What could possibly cause you to punish yourself in this way?"

He pushed past another thick curtain of cobwebs, existing despite the inhospitable conditions. Time to find his trouble-prone teammate.

_#_#_#_

"No."

Thoth raised one elegant eyebrow in imitation of his guest. Minimal was definitely the name of this game.

"I will not consent to the use of Goa'uld technology."

"It is a mere recording facilitator. Nothing of which to be concerned."

Te'alc glared at the Goa'uld seated opposite.

Thoth sighed; "Very well, then. But you will answer my questions in accordance with our agreement, to the fullness of your abilities will you not?"

"Indeed," Te'alc answered with an even deeper scowl.

"Then I shall start by following a variation of a common Tau'ri technique; I believe it is known to you. You will answer with the first thoughts that come to mind when I say a given word."

He paused and glanced side-on at the Jaffa before him as he lit some scented oils on the nearby table, "To fulfill our bargain, you must answer with more than single syllables – or clarify your answer, preferably with descriptive sentences or paragraphs."

Te'alc continued to scowl.

"Earth"

"Anachronistic."

At Thoth's raised eyebrow, Te'alc countered with a supercilious look of his own, before sighing in resignation.

"It is indeed a confusion of archaic cultures and beliefs juxtaposed with advanced scientific thinking and the potential for galactic greatness."

Thoth nodded briefly.

"The SGC".

Te'alc glared without responding.

"So soon? I had thought you could persist for a somewhat longer time? Could it be that human habits are brushing off on you?"

The glare intensified, but the former First Prime reluctantly moved to respond.

"Confusing, confronting and confounding!"

"Elaborate!"

Te'alc leaned back in the chair, although on full alert, he looked completely at ease with his situation.

"Although the aim of Stargate Command is said to be the investigation of the worlds and civilizations to be found at the Chappa'ai co-ordinates available to the Tau'ri – primarily from the archives on Abydos discovered by Daniel Jackson – recently the emphasis from General Hammond's superiors in the Tau'ri American capital has been on the acquisition of potential weapons and technology at all costs."

"To the detriment of the collection of knowledge?"

"Indeed."

"Why has this change occurred? What has triggered this, if it was not so at the beginning of your association with the SGC?"

"The SGC and SG-1 in particular has come to the attentions of an individual of dubious honour. He has a position of power within the Tau'ri government of the United States, and indirectly therefore, of the governance of the SGC, and can influence the flow of money available for the Program. This has caused much anguish for General Hammond who has been forced to compromise his principles and the safety of the people under his care as a result."

"And the change in emphasis?"

"Senator Kinsey has 'the ear' – as the Tau'ri say – of powerful people with no knowledge of the Program or for what the money is used. He pushes for greater control, for more visible 'returns' for the funds provided. He wants power and the technology to gain more power over everything else, even at the cost of allies, or the peoples of the worlds we visit. He is a Shol'va without honour!"

"Interesting! I shall have to take a fuller interest in the politics of that world than I have done in the past."

Thoth jotted some notes into his datapad. "However, as interesting as the politics side is, we must continue… Give me your first response when considering General Hammond…"

"Honourable, staunch, intelligent, diligent, reliable and resourceful. He would make a worthy opponent, and is a trustworthy, intelligent and just leader."

"High compliments, indeed!"

Te'alc inclined his head in agreement.

"Colonel O'Neal…"

"A conundrum. Half-grown. A not always harmonious mixture of prepubescent child and shrewd warrior. He is easily underestimated - as many System Lords have found out to their detriment," Te'alc concluded with a significant look at Thoth.

"Major Carter."

"Female."

Thoth waited for more information before prompting the nervous Jaffa before him; "Surely you have a more detailed analysis available?"

Te'alc looked somewhat uncomfortable at the question. "You required first impressions. Such was mine, regretfully. A Jaffa is taught that female children are to be trained only to defend themselves and their family, not to fight with the true Jaffa warriors against their foes."

"This was hard to accept?"

"It was exceedingly difficult. It was made more so as Major Carter was second to O'Neal in rank, and I was expected to follow her orders – a female child of so few years, leading a Jaffa 'general' with decades of experience!"

"How did you overcome the internal conflict?"

"I observed the interactions of the Major with the men of the Tau'ri, including O'Neal, Daniel Jackson and General Hammond. I found that she was a person of great skill and knowledge, held in high regard by all warriors of the SGC – else they discovered to their detriment that she was a formidable opponent in her own right."

The Jaffa paused. "And she makes a formidable walnut chocolate chip 'cookie' … It remains the only thing she is capable of rendering palatable to humans and higher mammals!"

"Not culinarily inclined?"

"Indeed! She is well suited to being a warrior and a scientist", the Jaffa responded, failing to suppress a visible shudder.

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"Daniel! Oh, Daaaannnielll! … …"

Footsteps could be heard echoing through the vastness of Daniel's inferno.

"Well, this is … not … nice! Adds a whole new dimension to 'living in one's own head', don't'cha think? Geez, Daniel! You really have to give your latest decorator the boot! Didn't think you were so into all that Elmo stuff!"

Daniel blinked rapidly as he pulled his awareness back into what currently stood for his world. There was only one person who could mangle the language to such a degree - but how could he possibly be here?

"Jack?"

"Daniel."

"Jack!"

"The one and only! How'ya doin', Danny boy?", Jack asked, forcing his way through piles of burning rocks, past greasy cobwebs the size of fishing nets, all the time waving away the smoke and fumes from the open pit fires dotting the mindscape.

"You know you have one scary brain in this head of yours Dr. Jackson! I mean, couldn't you come up with somewhere … I don't know … more homely? A few deckchairs, a lake, some fish?" he asked, waving his arm to encompass the cavern.

"Apparently not. I seem to be more than just one sandwich short of a picnic at the moment."

"Well, you reeeally could've picked a better place for the picnic, Danny!"

"I really, reeeally couldn't, Jack! … What precisely are you doing here?"

"Well! You don't write … you don't call … What's a guy supposed to do?"

"Well, last time I spoke with Seshat, she said she was working on an antidote – in between trying to stop some overly-familiar gould from overly-touching me."

"Yeah, about that…"

"What?"

"They seem to have hit a bit of a … snag …so to speak."

"And …?" Daniel prompted.

"… Ya know, according to Thoth, we …" – Jack motioned several times with his finger between the two of them, "are great, great, great, 'something to the hundredth power' cousins … or something! If you go back far enough, that is."

To his surprise, Daniel did not look impressed.

"Well if you go back that far, you and Te'alc are probably cousins!"

Jack blinked.

"Reeeally! Ya don't say!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Stop prevaricating! You were going to tell me about this snag …?"

Jack flicked a piece of imaginary fluff off his tac vest.

"Jack?"

"Ya know, this reminds me of a song by an old English group … what was their name? … Pink Flamingoes… ? - 'Comfortably … something!' That's it!"

"Don't make me get up from here!"

"Like you can!"

"Waiting … waiting … Clock's tickin' Jack!"

"Yeah, well, ya see Daniel, 'tworkinganymore!"

"Jack! In English. I'm dying here!"

"And you call yourself a linguist!"

"JACK!"

"Okay, okay." Jack sighed before elaborating. "It sorta seems as if the antidote isn't working anymore."

" -"

"Daniel? Still with me? … Daniel?"

"Thinking, Jack!'

"What about, Danny?"

"Ooh, I don't know, how about Life, the Universe and Everything!"

"You sure you've got time for that much thought at this moment?"

"Will I have any other moment if I don't get this solved?"

"Point taken! – Ya know your breathing is starting to sound … I don't know … somewhat wheezy there!"

"Yeah, I know. It's probably the result of …"

"Daniel?"

"That's it, Jack! None of the other poisons Seshat mentioned caused this effect, and I can remember only one, but it fits in with the rest of the symptoms. But if I'm right, we have very little time left. I have very little time left!"

Daniel gasped to regain his breath and turned his head painfully slowly to look at Jack, his eyes conveying much more than he was willing to put into words.

"Jack, I need you to memorise what I say exactly for Seshat. You cannot get the details wrong, or the consequences for me will be quick and premanent."

"Ya sure you trust me with this, Danny? You wouldn't prefer me to get Carter for you?"

"Of course I trust you to do this Jack! I trust you with my life every day! How is this any different?"

"Well, now you're also trusting me with your words – maybe even your final ones - and I gotta say, I'm not much for words under normal circumstances!"

Daniel just looked at him quietly. "Are you ready?"

Taking a very deep breath, Jack replied: "As I'll ever be!"

"Then let's get started!"

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