ALTERNITY

Part 2

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Jarred awake, disconcerted because he had been sleeping instead of guarding his mate, Blair leaned up on one elbow and looked around the dimly lit room. There was no sign of what had awakened him, and thinking that maybe it was only the familiarity of being back in the Mountain, back in an SGC, even if it wasn't their SGC, that had even allowed him to doze off in the first place, he slowly lay back down, squirming backwards to refit himself into the curve of Jim's body.

It was only when his backside bumped into his spouse's very rampant maleness did he become aware of his own tenting the front of his boxers. Nonplused because it was the last thing he expected given how weak Jim had been when they'd first gotten to their room, not to mention they'd made love once already, Blair angled back into the hard-on, letting it nudge his cleft, not sure what he wanted to do about it. Then Jim draped a heavy arm over his waist and pulled him in tight, groaning softly in pleasure.

"God, Chief," he muttered. "You smell like you're dying to be loved." Sleepily he nosed aside curls until he reached the nape of Blair's neck, then he kissed it. "Taste like it, too."

Shivering in delight at the cold/hot race of arousal arcing from that spot, Blair said huskily, "Just smell and taste?"

"Mmmm... Sound - fast heartbeat and ragged breathing. Feel?" Jim cupped him intimately, long fingers mapping out Blair's full length. "Oh, definitely."

"Uh, that, uh, leaves...." Blair struggled to find a couple of brain cells that weren't screaming for him to shut up and get naked.

"Sight." Jim made a few million of his mate's neurons happy and tugged down Blair's boxers, using a deft foot to snag and get them entirely down the restlessly moving legs. "That's five out of five. Guess that means that you are really...." He pressed his erection hard against a firm bottom. "Really...." A slight shift in position had it sliding along the entire crease, ending with a gentle nudge into the underside of furred balls. "Really interested in getting laid."

With a strangled snort of amusement, Blair fumbled for the pants his mate had left draped over a chair next to the bed, and came up with a foil pack of concentrated KY. "So what's taking you so long?" He reached back to give Jim the packet, bending at the waist in blatant invitation.

"Damn," Jim said reverently. Then slick, eager fingers found their way to Blair's center, not that he needed much preparation. His blood was racing like he was seventeen again, hormones rioting in mad demand for physical satisfaction. Just the hasty invasion for lubing had him groaning, hips rocking back for more.

When the blunt crown of his mate's need came to rest at his pucker, Blair covered his mouth with his own hand to hold back a shout at the first wondrous rush of penetration. It was so incredibly good that it almost wasn't enough, then Jim's hand joined his as a gag, which was a very necessary thing. Withdrawing hurriedly, Jim slammed back in, nearly sending Blair off the bed with a blast of pure pleasure that was duplicated a second later when he thrust again.

After that, all Blair could do was give his body to his lover's care because he was beyond anything except pathetic whimpers of joy that seeped past the silencing fingers. Climax crashed its way down his spine, making holding off until Jim was closer to his own release impossible, much as Blair wanted to cross the finish line with him. Then for a moment everything stopped - lungs, heart, brain - and the universe was a blinding, deafening avalanche of ecstasy that was both timeless and heart-breakingly brief.

Panting, astonished at the force of his finish, Blair came back to himself, automatically adjusting to his mate's urgent pumping. There was a ragged edge about it that had him belatedly worrying about his sentinel's remaining resources, then Jim killed a scream deep in his chest and stiffened. His whole body shook with the force of his completion, which seemed to go on and on, jacking Blair's concern up another level.

Eventually, though, it ended, and Jim drooped over him, gasping for breath so harshly that Blair squirmed away enough to turn and run his hands through the air a few inches above his torso. Amazingly the thrum of life against his palms was stronger than it had been earlier, and even the blackness eroding the marriage bracelets hadn't gained any ground. Before he could ask anything, his mate volunteered breathlessly, "That wasn't us."

Despite it all, Blair couldn't help quirking an eyebrow and looking down at the wetness covering his belly, his lips pursed as if stopping a question. Gently cuffing the side of his head, Jim grinned broadly. "*That* was us; the inspiration wasn't. I think we accidentally tapped into our alternates while we were sleeping. Check for yourself."

At his suggestion, Blair closed his eyes and concentrated on the faint echo within his own mind that he had learned was the presence of his counterpart on whatever Earth they were on. It was vibrant, strong, and reaching back for him as if sensing his mental touch. "He's seeking," Blair said slowly. "Learning, but not an adept yet."

Running a finger over the metal circlet that marked Blair's adept status, Jim said, "That's good; it means the humans of this universe aren't completely ignorant of mental potential. Have you seen any sign that Daniel knows that he's gifted?"

"Other than his ability with language? No." Blair hesitated a moment, then added, "Maybe it's time you tell me the real reason you want me to teach him, instead of my alternate. It would be much easier to teach this world's Sandburg, especially if he's already seeking."

"What's wrong with the reasons I gave the first time we had this discussion?" Jim said gruffly, reaching for his tee-shirt to begin cleaning them both up.

"Nothing. It's perfectly logical to work with somebody that's already in SGC instead of having to fight to get a 'wild card' brought in. And it is a documented fact that alternates often can't stand each other, making working with them difficult if not impossible, though there's no reason to think that would necessarily be the case in this instance. We are talking about adepts and near-adepts here." Blair accepted the attention, keeping his tone mild.

But when Jim started to leave the bed to go back to the conference room, Blair stopped him by wrapping both arms around his neck, being careful of the spreading and worsening wound from the trizatas. "I know you better than to buy that's all going on behind those baby-blues of yours. Give." As lovingly as he could, he added, "This is not the time to have anything unspoken between us. Please?"

Leaning over him, two fingers finding a lock of hair to play with, Jim studied him for a minute, then confessed, "I don't want to mess with your counterpart's life. Remember the Earth where Maybourne summarily ordered the execution of their Sandburg and Ellison to negate the temporal distortion in us so they would have longer to try to force us to talk?"

With a shudder, Blair nodded, seeing where his mate was going. But he kept silent, wanting Jim to free himself from these last chains of guilt and pain.

"Then there was the one where they were both married to women and had families. When that Sandburg's wife learned you and I were together, she went berserk and shot and killed him, then their children, then herself."

He couldn't let that one pass; not after having so many nightmares about the children himself. "Jim, if she was that unstable, it would have happened sooner or later, regardless of us, or of that Sandburg's true relationship with his sentinel. You said yourself they would have been together if it hadn't been for taking wives before they even met. Carrie would have sensed that; she was as gifted as that Blair."

"I know, I know! But it doesn't make it any easier to leave destroyed lives behind us."

Seeing what was at the core of his mate's sorrow, Blair said carefully, "You didn't ruin my life, you know. I have never once regretted taking your hand in mine."

Bending his head so that his expression couldn't be seen, Jim admitted, "I've regretted for you. Regretted all those years you and your mom were estranged because of me."

"She saw the right of it, eventually," Blair said sadly.

"I never had a doubt that she wouldn't, remember?" Jim brushed a kiss over his forehead. "It was just so much at once. If she had found out that you'd chosen to marry a man, she would have sorrowed for the lost grandchildren, the end of her father's line of gifted and wise scholars, but she would have accepted it as your choice, and your love. Once she got over that, finding out that I was Catholic would have been hard, but she wasn't a hypocrite. She'd been fighting for religious tolerance and equality for years. Even when things were bad, I think she was proud of you for living up to her standards."

Wearily, but accepting it as the truth, Blair finished the litany of regret for him. "But I didn't just marry a male Catholic; I married a baby-killing enforcer of the corrupt establishment, then promptly joined that same despised establishment, and couldn't even give her a good reason why because SGC was still classified top secret. For her it was like I betrayed every principal she'd ever tried to teach me."

"I saw what having her turn her back on you did to you," Jim said. "I just don't want to have any of the Sandburgs have to face something like that because of us. If they're already with the SGC, that's one thing. But I'm not going to be the reason for ruining your life, even if it's an alternate's life."

Blair didn't know what to say to that, mainly because he'd initially agreed to keep their counterparts out of it for his own fear of what might happen to a Jim Ellison whose sentinel abilities were suppressed or being hidden. He'd been on too many worlds where being 'different' from the accepted norm could be a death sentence, and had never been on an Earth where sentinels weren't considered, at least, unusual. The irony of both of them trying to protect each other's double was too much, and he chuckled. "So the whole Blessed Protector thing applies to all Blair Sandburgs, huh?"

Jim gave him the half-grin that he used when he was caught being irrational and pre-civilized. "Well, you never mentioned any limitations on that particular responsibility."

"Which is probably a good thing. It's a good mental attitude for a sentinel not only trying to save the universe, but trying to save all of them," Blair shot back dryly.

"Speaking of which...." Jim gave Blair a last quick kiss and crawled out of bed. "They're waiting for us, Chief."

"Like always, lover," he grumbled, getting up himself. "Like always."

* * *

Putting the last label on the last manila envelope, Daniel lined it up with the rest, and sighed. The fanned out series of addresses was a veritable who's who of scientists, not just in America, but of every country that could boast of a major genius. When they were filled with the information from Dr. Sandburg, they would be messengered by armed soldiers to the recipients, and signed for.

It had taken most of the night, and wouldn't have been possible at all if Dr. Sandburg hadn't already had several excellent plans for Hammond and SG1 to choose from. It was eerie, Daniel decided, to have someone know you and your people so well, that they could practically read your mind. As it was, he had spent more time trying to find the whereabouts of the researchers that Dr. Sandburg wanted to give the packets to, than debating how they should be delivered.

“They deserve the credit for the work," the anthropologist had said solemnly, "because they *would* have done it if I hadn't interfered."

For the geniuses that didn't exist in this alternity, they had had to find substitutes, though again Dr. Sandburg had been prepared with viable replacements. Once the team had taken out Agaeis Prime to satisfy the President of the validity of the source, key formulas, theories, and facts would be sent to the chosen scientist with a cover letter explaining that the initial work had been done by a top-secret research facility, but that the individual responsible was no longer able to continue it. Ironically, that was nothing but the simple truth.

Making sure that the envelopes were received, acknowledged and acted upon was going to take a massive amount of organization, Daniel realized tiredly. As would the behind the scenes maneuvering to guarantee funding for the 'new' research, double-checking that it was going in the direction needed, and finding subtle ways to drop hints from the proposed main data base if things got stalled. Not to mention there was a back-up plan of e-mails and web pages of 'anonymous' tips to prevent the results of the unexpected gift of information from being suppressed or becoming the exclusive property of the wrong people.

All in all, it looked to Daniel as if a brand-new presidential position was going to be needed, or at least, an old one bent to fit the bill. And he was not, he told himself firmly, going to be the one filling it. Been there, done that, and he didn't like the human who had been both the creator and created of it, even if none of it had been real. Hopefully, since this information was being spread so widely, as opposed to sitting in a single man's head, no delusions of megalomania would cause it to be misused.

The reminder of the head it was currently sitting in made him look over at Dr. Sandburg energetically typing on a laptop, not spilling his information yet, but plainly structuring a spreadsheet to organize it when he did. Colonel Ellison was practically on top of both of them, so obviously guarding that Daniel had to look down to the other end of the table at where the rest of SG1 were arguing with Jacob Carter on how to take Agaeis Prime.

It had been clear from the moment the Tok’ra had arrived, that supposed allies or not, Ellison didn't trust any Ga'ould except one at the business end of a weapon. While that met Jack's approval in general, the situation was tense until Dr. Sandburg suggested that his mate work with him. That seemed to consist of offering an occasional name or reminding his partner of some detail—that and glowering at the Tok’ra if he moved too far from that end of the room.

The odd thing was that Teal'c not only knew what Ellison was doing, but he obviously approved of it. That his would-be lover would want him protected shouldn't be a surprise, Daniel supposed, and he could see where that could cause trouble on future missions. One thing he was sure of, he was not going to be the one staying behind, safe and sound.

No, what was strange was that Teal'c clearly agreed with Ellison that there was something for him and Dr. Sandburg to be protected *from.* And since neither Jack nor Sam were oblivious to the guarding nor protesting it, that meant they thought so, too, as if Ellison's wariness of the Tok'ra were contagious. Selmak's reaction to the briefing on the day's events hadn't been positive, Daniel admitted to himself, but surely it hadn't been so bad that SG1 should consider him dangerous now.

Puzzled by that, a little surprised by the good feeling their concern gave him, he studied the small group, trying to see what had SG1 and company on alert. Then Jack looked over and yelled, "Daniel, get down here and explain to this so-called gentleman simply blowing up the planet, workers and all, is not a viable option."

Rising to do as told, he caught Ellison and Teal'c exchanging a look. Teal'c then stepped back slightly from the table so that he could see everyone. The buck had just been passed, he realized with a start, and the buck was him. Even more bewildered, he walked down toward Jack and Sam, seeing both self-appointed sentries relax fractionally when he kept his teammates between him and the Tok’ra looking over Colonel Ellison's diagrams.

Looking down at the shipyard's layout, Daniel put away his newest mystery until later and concentrated on the problem at hand. "Most of the workers have to be aware that their 'gods' power is nothing but the machinery they're making—they'd be more valuable to us as dissidents living among their own people than they would be as corpses," he said flatly. "Not to mention, there's bound to be more than a few who would probably be willing to work for the Tok’ra, if it meant a chance to bring down those self-same so-called gods."

"Their skills are too important to Apophis for him to allow them to remain free if we should be able to liberate them," Jacob/Selmak argued. "They'd just be recaptured."

"If he knows we freed them," Daniel agreed. "We'll have to make him think they were all destroyed with the shipyard and mine."

Looking very exasperated, Jacob plopped into the chair at the head of the table and said, "And how exactly do you plan on accomplishing getting all of them off planet, let alone hiding that it was done? Or are you already counting on using some wonderful device from your new allies? "

Studying the layout and ignoring Jacob's last sarcastic words, Daniel said thoughtfully, "Your people have done reconnaissance already, haven't they?"

Seemingly taken aback at the assumption, Jacob moderated his tone and admitted cautiously, "We've confirmed the system was there, and a little judicious surveillance showed that for a presumably dead planet, it had a surprising number power sources on it."

From behind them, Dr. Sandburg asked as he and his partner approached, "Did they actually see the shipyard?"

"High resolution image of the largest power source showed a mother ship," Jacob said warily, "about two-thirds complete."

"Chief," Ellison said with some amusement, "you promised me you wouldn't steal any more starships."

"Technically, I'm not going to," Dr. Sandburg said, trying to sound very reasonable but not able to hide his grin. "The workers are. We're just going to help them."

"You've done this before?" Jack asked, sounding more curious than critical.

"No," Ellison said shortly. "It wouldn't have done us any good by the time our Tok'ra decided to share this particular tidbit; Apophis didn't need Agaeis Prime any more. We wouldn't have found out about it at all except that a rebellion there was preventing the Tok’ra from smuggling out the nacquada they'd been taking, and they wanted our help establishing contact with the rebels. Seems they didn't trust any kind of Ga'ould by that time."

"We can tell you how the Tok'ra got in and out of the system without being detected," Sandburg offered helpfully. "They imitated asteroids. They plotted the paths of some of the larger sized debris and leap-frogged from rock to rock until they reached the surface. Even with anomalous gravitational fields, it works because the ship isn't actually navigating; it's taking advantage of what's naturally provided. Slow, maybe, but effective."

"Kind of like hopping from stone to stone to cross a stream," Daniel said thoughtfully. "One question: How do they get the ships they build out, once construction is completed?"

"Apparently, they launch from the surface under full power," Ellison said. "It's one reason the mine and living quarters are so far from the dock. Still, there is evidence to suggest some of the ships haven't made it."

"So there's no guarantee that even if you can somehow gain their trust well enough to get them to make a break for the ship, that they'll survive the attempt," Jacob said bluntly. "And how many will die trying? It's not likely that Apophis' people haven't had slaves try to stowaway, or take a ship before; they have defenses for those contingencies. Since we have a way in, the best thing to do is simply detonate a nuclear bomb in the mine. Anything else is a waste of our very limited resources."

Sam, who had been uncharacteristically listening to both sides debate without offering an opinion, spoke up. "As delicately balanced as the gravity is on that planet, the kinds of quakes an explosion of that magnitude will cause will in all likelihood cause it to come apart at the seams. There won't be any survivors left, except maybe the few Ga'ould or Jaffa who can get through the Star Gate." Daniel thought there was an element of outrage carefully hidden under the formal respect she used.

"At least the ending will be quick," Jacob said sourly. "And our lives won't be risked unnecessarily."

Staring at her father as if she couldn't believe she'd heard him correctly, she said, "They deserve a chance."

"Fine," Jacob snapped. "Give me a way to give it to them that won't take months of covert ops. There's no point it destroying it after Apophis has had time to stockpile ships and nacquada."

"If they rebelled in an alternate," Daniel said quietly, wishing he could make her father's attitude less painful for Sam, "They may well be ready to rebel here. Colonel Ellison, do you have any names?"

"No," he answered, apparently deep in thought. "But getting them wouldn't be a problem if Sandburg and I could move among the slaves. He can get a tree to give up its secrets, and I have my own methods." A second later he added reluctantly, "On the other hand, getting them to trust us...."

"They would trust Teal'c," Daniel volunteered uneasily, catching his lover's eye and trying to look apologetic. "I doubt there's a single one of Apophis' slaves or Jaffa who doesn't know about the First Prime that turned on him. His... rage and thirst for revenge made it impossible to hide... even from other System Lords."

"Yeah, which makes him instantly recognizable," Jack objected, also glancing at their teammate. "He'd get tossed into a hole the split second after a 'loyal' Jaffar laid eyes on him."

"Which means we don't hide him," Sandburg said distractedly. "Is there any Ga'ould in your universe besides Apophis who might legitimately have access to the Star Gate at Agaeis Prime?"

"Trojan horse," Ellison murmured, nodding in agreement. "We used that successfully several times before the Ga'ould back home caught on. Here, it's a brand new trick, and if we do it right, there won't be anybody left to tell how we infiltrated the shipyard. For one reason or the other."

The last words were grim, and Daniel caught himself before he could protest. For the ones they saved to be safe, there could be no survivors left behind. Instead, he asked, "You have a way to create a 'false' Ga'ould?"

"I don't like the sound of that," Jacob barked.

"Tough," Jack barked back. To Ellison he said, "Glowing eyes and voice would be easy enough, but both Jaffa and Ga'ould can 'feel' snakeheads."

"We can fake that, too," Sandburg assured him. "Which brings us back to the original question: who else besides Apophis could have access to that Gate?"

"Klorel," Daniel said, watching Jack. "He's Apophis' heir. If he came through the Gate with the sho'var in chains, he could make a case that it was the one place Teal'c couldn't escape or be rescued from."

"I am not," Jack said angrily, "Bringing Skaare into this mess."

"Jack," Ellison said quietly, "You don't have to. The body doesn't matter; just the attitude. And Skaare hates - I should say, the Skaare I know - hates Ga'ould too much to ever be able to do this kind cov-op work."

"He's right," Daniel added hastily. "Besides, how many people are going to know what Klorel's new body looks like?"

"New body? He was removed from Skaare in this universe?" Blair asked.

"Not in yours?" Sam confirmed obliquely.

“No, we killed his snake." Ellison looked at his spouse. "You want to go in as Klorel."

It wasn't a question, and Sandburg perched edge of the table before he explained himself. "As a Ga'ould torn from his host, I can pass off a temporal distortion episode as damage from the removal. Same for any other weirdness we need to cover, like insisting that all the workers be at the ship at some given time. I can also learn from the supervisors who they consider to be the trouble-makers."

"Then Jack and I can be your 'guards,' faces hidden by the armor," Daniel added, seeing where the man's clever mind was taking them. "Ellison, too. What about Sam?"

"I can't go in as a guard," Ellison said, sitting in a chair near where his mate was perched. "While Blair's working on finding the leaders from the topside, we need to be doing the same thing from the bottom. One of us needs to be a body servant or someone like that who can move through the populace. My face is unknown, and since we have to factor in temporal distortion for me, too, I'm the best candidate for that. The episodes can be 'punishment' for some error. As for Sam..."

All eyes turned to her, and she shrugged. "I'm not as well known as Teal'c, but I could be recognized. Maybe another captive?"

"Actually, Sam, I'd like for you to join me on this mission," Jacob said unexpectedly. "What you said earlier about the quakes tipping the balance for Agaeis Prime.... If we can do that, especially if we can set some quakes off before the big one, Apophis will think he lost the shipyard to natural causes. He won't have any reason to look for the ship, the people, or the Tok'ra."

"Artificially caused quakes," Sam said thoughtfully, pulling out the star chart from under the shipyard layout. "Asteroid hits, maybe? Plenty of them close in and you could hardly call the orbit for any of them stable."

"Wouldn't they have automated defenses against that sort of thing?" Daniel asked, absently adjusting his glasses and bending over the plastic sheet with her.

"Only for the area immediately around the mine and shipyard; they wouldn't care about the rest of the planet," she said in excitement. "And I'd bet they routinely keep track of the really big ones and destroy them if they look like they might make landfall too close by."

"Bumper shot in pool," Sandburg offered. "Pick out a few that could dislodge others from their normal path. That way, even if they check the ones that fell, no signs of interference."

"They'd need to be fairly large, but we wouldn't have to hit them straight on..." Sam muttered to herself. She started scribbling figures on the side of the sheet, her father looking over her shoulder.

While she did that, Jack looked over at Teal'c and asked, "Are you okay with putting your head in a noose like this?"

"I will do whatever is required of me, O'Neill," the Jaffar said calmly.

"That wasn't what I asked," Jack said. "I know you're a soldier, proud to serve and all that. But since you're the one being dragged through the Gate like the spoils of battle, you deserve an opinion about this scheme we're cooking up over here."

Realizing that Jack was asking because of him, Daniel kept his head over the shipyard layout, pretending intense concentration. This was going to be the hard part he'd worried about earlier; accepting that he was going to have to let his warrior be a warrior, and not interfere. The only consolation he had was that Teal'c had exactly the same problem. Suddenly, Dr. Sandburg's words from earlier came back to haunt him, and Daniel wished with all he had that he and Teal'c had made love when they had had the chance.

"I believe," Teal'c said, "That the plan is a sound one. The Ga'ould often keep enemies chained close at hand so that they may be punished at the whim of their captor. Such unfortunates are often put on display as discouragement to other potential heretics. In addition, if Dr. Sandburg is capable of impersonating Klorel, his word will not be questioned by any one less than Apophis himself. The greatest danger lies in Apophis or Klorel, themselves, unexpectedly arriving on Agaeis Prime."

"Klorel’s whereabouts are known," Jacob said dismissively. "As are Apophis'. We can guarantee that for about forty-eight hours, no more."

"We don't have much more than that in this alternate," Dr. Sandburg said. "And we'll still need time to share our information."

"It's going to take at least eight hours to get the asteroids falling on the planet," Sam said absently.

"We can have our operatives in place by then, as well," Jacob added.

"Okay," Jack said definitively, "then we break for now. I'll go sell this to Hammond and start preparing a list of weapons and supplies. I recommend the rest of you get some shut-eye in the meantime."

"Colonel O'Neill," Dr. Sandburg said before the others could obey orders. "A Ga'ould Lord doesn't go anywhere without a ribbon device. I'm going to need two of them and some micro tools to adapt them for human use. And the return of the crystals you took from me."

"You can do that?" Jack asked skeptically.

"I thought you had to have nacquada in your blood stream to use a ribbon device," Daniel blurted, noticing that Selmak had taken over Jacob and was listening very closely to their conversation.

“Not after a few modifications," Ellison said flatly, carefully not looking at the Tok'ra. "Afterwards, as a nice side-bonus, they're useless to the snake-heads."

"It works on healing devices, too," Dr. Sandburg said. "I'd like to teach Dr. Jackson how to use both, if you don't mind, which is why I want the second one."

“Perhaps I could help with the lesson," Selmak/Jacob volunteered unexpectedly.

"I don't think so," Dr. Sandburg said evenly, standing and deliberately putting his back to the Tok'ra, effectively dismissing him. "The technique is different for an un-possessed human." He said aside to Daniel, "If you're willing to learn, that is. You're the best choice, but I don't want you to think that you have to."

Before Jack could voice the protest everyone could see forming, the anthropologist said to him, "Dr. Carter is going to be busy plotting asteroid courses, Teal'c will be standing guard to make sure it isn't a trick, and you would just get a headache."

"Just because my alternate couldn't do it," O'Neill argued anyway, "Doesn't mean I can't."

"You're going to have to sit still for at least forty-five minutes and concentrate on what the center of your chest feels like," Dr. Sandburg said, managing to hide his grin except for the sparkle in his eyes.

"I can do that." Jack thought a second longer. "I can." Another second passed. "Forty-five minutes?"

"Takes at least that long to sensitize yourself," Dr. Sandburg said helpfully.

"That's not so bad," Jack said firmly. "And it would be worth it to be able to knock some Ga'ould on his ass." He started to walk away, then asked, "Center of the chest?"

"That's where the third chakra is," Dr. Sandburg answered, studiously not smirking.

"Chakra?"

"Energy centers in the body," Dr. Sandburg said, taking on a lecturing tone. "Correlating to major nerve ganglia branching from the spinal column. Supposedly, they correlate additionally to levels of consciousness and..."

"I'll just go talk to Hammond," Jack said hastily. "Teal'c, you get those ribbon devices for them." He beat a quick retreat, giving everyone the freedom to snicker behind his back.

An hour later, Daniel made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed in Ellison's and Sandburg's quarters, not sure how or when this became the best place for the lesson, let alone whether or not he wanted to be the student. Hesitantly, he slipped the metal over his fingers and palm, trying not to shudder as a memory from the dream Shifu had given him filled his mind.

"Daniel," Dr. Sandburg said quietly, so as not to disturb his spouse working on the other device at the table on the other side of the room, Teal'c watching intently. "If you have any doubts about this at all, I'll teach Dr. Fraiser instead, or have Sam turn over her calculations to someone else."

"I know how to use this, Dr. Sandburg." Daniel turned his hand from back to front several times. "I can still feel the anger, no, the *fury* that fueled me, fueled the burst of hate from my hand."

"Blair," the other man corrected gently. "It feels waaaay too weird for you to call me that." He looked at Daniel quizzically. "Jim would know if you'd been Ga'ould; what happened?"

"A dream, vision—I'm not sure what you would call it. It was meant to teach me, and I'm still trying to absorb that particular lesson." He held up the ribbon device to study the new crystal in it. "And the only difference I can see or feel is this."

"It goes much, much deeper than that," Blair said. "A Ga'ould is basically nothing but a snake-shaped neural cluster. They hook into the base of the brain to become part of it; they have to in order to control the body. But that's the most primitive part of a human brain, the source of our pre-civilized impulses, our survival instincts. Rage, hatred, fear are born there, and so the Ga'ould only have those emotions to fuel the device."

"It works on emotional energy?" Daniel tried to fit that into his understanding of the technology.

"Call emotions the spark plug. But we've evolved past the reptile mind the Ga'ould use in their hosts. We have access to love, compassion, devotion—all the good stuff. When you use that for your sparkplug, you've got more control, can use the device more subtly, and, most importantly, don't have to worry about misusing the weapon. No losses from 'friendly' fire."

That sounded good to Daniel, almost too good to be believed, but Blair was wearing an earnest expression, as if he had had the same worries himself in the beginning. "Okay," Daniel said finally. "What do I do?"

“Have you ever meditated or used self-hypnosis?" Blair effortlessly drew his legs up into a lotus, stretching his arms over his head as if to limber up his spine.

"Never had the patience for it. You were serious when you told Jack about chakras?" Not bothering to hide his surprise, Daniel imitated the pose as much as he was able, though he crossed his ankles under himself, tailor-fashion.

"Actually, we just borrowed the terminology for the most part; it helped to have familiar referent. If you're not comfortable with that, the concept of 'chi' is a good one too." Eyes closed, Blair drew in a deep breath, then bent over his folded legs, arms behind him, still stretching.

Thinking furiously, Daniel said slowly, “Higher cerebral functions as opposed to autonomic and instinctive. Emphasizing the *human* aspects, mind versus brain."

"If you're faced with the extinction of your kind," Blair said, his sorrow showing through the peace that he'd been trying to achieve, "the question of what makes you human and unique becomes very important. And when you marry hard science with that, you make some astounding leaps of developmental progress."

"Mnemonic chains, meditative trance, emotion as a trigger for a technological device... We've seen hints of this in the Nox and some other species." Trying to hide his doubt and knowing that the next step in most mental disciplines was to relax, Daniel did his best to do so, but couldn't help feeling silly.

"It's all right to feel silly," Blair said with a grin, reading his mind. "I was born and raised with this, man, and I've never seen a beginning student who wasn't self-conscious and worried about taking that New Age shit too seriously. The important thing is to get comfortable and admit the negative stuff. Once you do, you can let go of it and get beyond it." His grin widened. "Guess I should have some sitar music in the background when I say things like that, huh?"

Despite it all, Daniel smiled. "We were good friends, weren't we, Blair?" A split second later, he wished he could call back the question; the other man's merriment dimmed considerably.

"If it weren't for you," Blair said quietly, "I wouldn't have met Jim. Your paper on the Chopec social hierarchy led me to you, then you introduced us."

"I never wrote that paper, though I remember making some notes on it when I spoke to the James Ellison in this universe." His curiosity was too much for him and he asked, "Did I abandon my theory that the pyramids were built by alien technology?"

"Uh, no." Blair looked uneasy. "How much do you want to know about your counterpart, really, Daniel?"