TITLE: Stories from the Table - Off World

AUTHOR: Goddess Athene

FEEDBACK: goddess.athene@ntlworld.com 

RATING: PG

CATEGORY: Table

PAIRINGS: J/D maybe

CONTENT WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY: The table sees something of life outside the SGC.

SPOILERS: FiaD, Legacy

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks Debi – interesting concept… And you can all stop nagging now… And my light sabre IS blue… honest, but this just happened….

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. I have merely borrowed them, and promise to give them back the way I found them – well, more or less, anyway! Rats – TPTB want Danny back – I wasn’t quick enough there, although I’ve had lots of fun playing….<g>! The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STall AlienRGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

I am a table. I am a rectangular four-foot wide by eight-foot long, golden oak table with lots of grain, a leg on each corner, and a polyurethane sealant. This is important, because though it removes me from the level of `fine' furniture, it adds to my versatility and my longevity. I was purchased in the early 90's by the U.S. Air Force Quartermaster in a spasm of upgrades for the offices of NORAD. After I was delivered I was reassigned to a priority slot in a new command under the mountain cryptically referred to as SGC. I can seat eight formally, ten comfortably, and twelve friendly. Because I was purchased without chairs, I knew that my life would be one of utilitarianism not formal dining. In other words, I'll see a lot of service of all kinds.

I am now in a place that is far from my normal locations in the SGC. I am in a place where moisture is soaking into my legs from the floor, and my legs are slowly sinking into it. It is not hard underfoot like the floor normally is. It is giving slightly. There is also a draught coming from under the walls, which are moving. I sit in this strange place, laden with large numbers of boxes, containing all sorts of heavy objects, which Tall Civilian Daniel moves about and studies at length. The mobiles call this place ‘off-world’.

I was moved to this place from the SGC about a week ago by Tall Military Jack and Tall Alien Teal’c.

Tall Military Jack is angry. “Daniel! Why do we have to bring this extremely heavy lump of wood with us? What’s wrong with a folding table, for crying out loud?”

Lump of wood! I am insulted. How can he compare me to a folding table?

“Jack! I told you. The artefacts that are being retrieved have been petrified over time and are consequently really heavy. One small box would cause the average folding table to collapse…”

So there Tall Military Jack – I am far superior to a folding table, and Tall Civilian Daniel knows it. Tall Civilian Daniel appreciates my finer qualities.

“I’m not surprised the rocks are petrified. You’re pretty scary when you’re armed with your digging things…”

“Jack, it’s not petrified as in scared, it’s petrified as in…”

“…turned to stone. I know, you told me before.” I can hear the resignation in Tall Military Jack’s voice. “Where do you want it?”

Tall Civilian Daniel shows them where to put me. He then starts to load my surface with heavy boxes, muttering to himself while he does so.

Time passes. I have become Tall Civilian Daniel’s main focus. He splits his time between recovering more of these artefacts and sitting at me cleaning and cataloguing those that have already been retrieved.

From time to time, other mobiles come and sit, either alone or with Tall Civilian Daniel, all doing similar things to these artefacts – cleaning, labelling, packing. It is clear though that Tall Civilian Daniel is in charge of this process. The various mobiles all ask for his opinion and assistance.

I have not seen anything of Tall Military Jack, Tall Alien Teal’c or Tall Lady Sam since I was brought to this place – to ‘Off world’. It is unusual for Tall Civilian Daniel to not have contact with them for so long.

Something has changed today – the activity is more focused on moving things around, rather than quiet study and contemplation of the items on my surface. Over the last few hours my burdens have become fewer. Tall Civilian Daniel was directing all the movements, until about five minutes ago, when he came and sat at me.

He is still sitting down, studying some extremely heavy object when I hear a familiar voice. It is Tall Military Jack.

“Hey Daniel!” He perches himself on my top, one foot on the floor. “Watcha doin’? I thought you guys were packing up, shipping out…”

“Oh, hi Jack. I’m just looking at this. It’s incredible…”

“Daniel – it’s a rock.”

“Actually, that’s what I thought at first…”

“You did?” Tall Military Jack places his weapon down on my surface, not far from the heavy object that Tall Civilian Daniel is studying.

“Yes. But it’s much more than that.”

“You thought that was just a rock.” I can hear the amazement in Tall Military Jack’s voice.

“Yes.” Tall Civilian Daniel sounds irritated. “Jack, listen. This… rock is actually a petrified skull, but because of the unique qualities of the geo-phys of this planet the…”

“You see, I don’t get that.” Tall Military Jack interrupts.

“Don’t get what?” Tall Civilian Daniel turns the heavy object on my surface.

“What does… ‘geo-phys’ mean? You use it all the time – and Carter – and it means nothing to me.” Tall Military Jack is waving his hands about as he speaks.

Tall Civilian Daniel sighs before he speaks. “Jack, geo-phys is the term we use when we refer to the geology of a place - the make up of the rocks and so on. In archaeology, we often use a geo-physical survey to show things that may not be obvious to the eye, so we know the best place to start digging. On this planet, there’s a unique form of limestone present – it’s weird – there’s a really high concentration of it in the water, and yet it calcifies really quickly, so it permeates more organic matter which is then petrified and consequently more completely preserved than we might normally expect…”

“Daniel. Stop. Please.”

There is a long pause. Tall Civilian Daniel is scrutinising Tall Military Jack in silence. Then he speaks. His voice is a little petulant. “Do you want to know the significant thing about this find, or not?”

There is another pause. “Go on then. Astound me.” Tall Military Jack has picked up something sharp and is tracing a pattern on my surface. That hurts. Stop him. Somebody stop him – please!

Tall Civilian Daniel snatches the sharp thing away from Jack. “If you’re going to be like that, then I’m not going to bother. You can wait for my report.” He sounds really annoyed.

“Going to be like what?” Tall Lady Sam has just entered the tent, accompanied by Tall Alien Teal’c.

“Doesn’t matter,” grumbles Tall Civilian Daniel.

“Why don’t you tell Carter? She’ll be interested in your rock.” Tall Military Jack gets up from where he has been sitting on me. “Carter, Daniel’s upset that I’m not interested in his incredibly fascinating rocks.”

Tall Lady Sam sits down next to Tall Civilian Daniel, and turns the heavy object around. There is a pause as she scrutinises the object. “Oh my God Daniel – is that what I think it is?"

“Yes. If you look here, you can clearly see how the joining tendrils connect to the brain tissue.” Tall Civilian Daniel and Tall Lady Sam study the object closely, turning it this way and that. It’s a good job I have a protective coating, otherwise the sharp edges of the rock would be scratching my surface.

Tall Alien Teal’c moves closer. “May I see Daniel Jackson?” Tall Civilian Daniel gets up from the chair that he has been sitting in to allow Tall Alien Teal’c room to view the object more clearly. The big man places his hands on my surface and leans in to scrutinise the artefact. “This is indeed a fascinating discovery Daniel Jackson. Doctor Fraiser will be very interested to study this.”

“Oh for crying out loud…,” mutters Tall Military Jack. “Now they’re all at it. What? What’s so exciting?”

“Look at it properly Jack. What do you see?” Tall Civilian Daniel speaks quietly.

Tall Military Jack pushes past Tall Lady Sam and Tall Alien Teal’c. He studies the object in silence for a while. “That… looks like a… Goa’uld?”

“That’s because it is…” Tall Civilian Daniel is both annoyed with Tall Military Jack and excited at what he has found. He’s talking really quickly. “Jack, this find is really significant. We can actually see how the symbiote connects with the host – normally these connections are destroyed fairly soon after death. Because this has been petrified so quickly, everything’s still intact. This will give Janet a real insight… Might make it possible for us to successfully remove a symbiote from a host without having to ask the Tok’ra…” He tails off. His voice sounds sad, almost wistful.

There is another silence. Tall Civilian Daniel is now tracing a pattern on my surface, but he is using a finger, unlike some people I could mention. He is scraping some dried mud off my legs using his thumbnail.

Tall Lady Sam clears her throat. “Er…I’ll go and supervise the dismantling of the other tents. Teal’c…can you come and assist?”

There is another silence. Tall Civilian Daniel picks up a roll of bubble wrap and starts to pack up the object that they have been studying.

Tall Military Jack grabs his hand, stopping him in the task. “You okay?”

There is another pause. “Not really.”

“Thinking about…?”

“Sha’re? Thinking if we’d only come here the first time this dig was scheduled? Thinking if only we’d opted for this mission rather than PY3-948… Thinking if only I hadn’t picked up that tablet and wound up nuts… Yeah. I’m thinking about that…” There is a bitter edge to Tall Civilian Daniel’s voice.

Tall Military Jack speaks softly, gently. “Daniel… it’s been over a year since…”

“I know.”

“I thought you’d…”

“Gotten over her? Nope.” They are both completely still, Tall Military Jack’s hand still covering Tall Civilian Daniel’s.

“I wasn’t going to suggest that. Moved on maybe?”

“Found someone new – that kind of thing?” The tone of Tall Civilian Daniel’s voice has changed slightly.

“Yeah… that kind of thing.” There is a warmth in Tall Military Jack’s voice that has been absent until now.

“Maybe.”

The two men break apart, and Tall Civilian Daniel resumes wrapping the object. It is lifted from my surface, and placed into a box. Tall Military Jack picks up the box and moves towards the flapping door of the tent. He pauses just before he leaves. “Missed you.”

“Me too,” replies Tall Civilian Daniel.

I am a table. I have travelled further than anyone could imagine, and have borne witness to things that I will never tell. After all, I am only a table