Daniel paced uneasily outside of the briefing room. Teal'c, Sam, Jack, and General Hammond were already inside. He was waiting for Dr. Frasier before he went in. He felt extremely nervous but determined to see this through. There was a crisis going on, after all. Even though it only affected other Immortals, his mortal friends had to know about it.

He'd examined the alien cube the day before. However, that was before he knew what it was doing to Immortals, so he hadn't been looking for reasons why it effected his kind. And this morning he didn't have any time at all to look at it between talking to Janet and arranging the debriefing/briefing...whatever it was called in this situation. How the hell was he supposed to know what it was supposed to be called? He hadn't been in the military for over a hundred years; the last time had been during the American Civil War. The army, not to mention the Air Force, which hadn't even existed back then, had changed considerably.

He shook his head, returning his wandering thoughts to more relevant subjects. It didn't really matter anyway. Trying to convince them that he'd ever been in the military at all as more than a civilian would be the hard part.

Down the hall, the elevator opened, and Dr. Frasier stepped out. She walked up to him and put a hand on his arm. "Ready?"

Daniel sighed. "Not really," he admitted. "But we might as well just get this over with."

Janet squeezed his arm before opening the door. Daniel followed her into the room.

"There you are!" Jack said. "We were about to call the hounds on ya, Daniel." His tone was teasing, but his eyes betrayed a mix of curiosity and suspicion. He'd managed to trap Daniel for a few minutes that morning but hadn't gleaned that much about the whole situation…whatever that may be. Daniel's assurances that he would explain everything at the briefing made Jack back off, if reluctantly. Jack had to wonder, though, what an old college friend had to do with whatever was worth making into a briefing.

"No need for that, Jack," Daniel said, taking a seat next to Dr. Frasier. Sam was on his left while Teal'c and Jack were seated on the other side of the table.

"Well, doctor, since you were the one who requested this meeting, would you care to begin?" General Hammond said, always the diplomat, although it was easy to tell that he was just as curious as the rest of SG-1.

All eyes turned to him, and Daniel wished that they could go back to the friendly sparring. He wasn't ready for the explanation part. Then again, he never was. After all, he always got mixed results after he revealed his identity, but they were usually bad results.

He took a deep breath. "There's something you guys need to know about me. Something you may have trouble accepting. First of all, I'm a lot older than any of you know. I'm actually a lot older than everyone in this room."

Jack glanced from Daniel, to Hammond, and then to Teal'c. He even glanced at Carter and Dr. Fraiser. He then looked down at himself before giving Daniel a raised eyebrow. Daniel sighed. "Yes, Jack. Everyone. I'm over 3500 years old. But I'm not a Goa'uld. I'm nothing like that, thankfully. I'm what is called an Immortal."

Doubt covered the faces of his friends. Of course they didn't believe him. Would he if he was in their places?

"Right," Jack said, drawing out the word. "Okay, Daniel. Fun's over. What did you really call the meeting for?"

"This isn't a joke, Colonel," Dr. Frasier informed him. "Daniel is, for all intents and purposes, Immortal."

"Janet, don't tell me you believe this?" Sam asked, bewildered. What the hell is going on? she wondered, and was pretty sure the thought was clear in her expression. "Immortality is scientifically impossible. Even the Goa'uld can't heal all wounds or live indefinitely."

"Exactly," Jack said.

General Hammond glanced from them to Daniel and Janet. "I must say, I'm confused. Is this some sort of joke, doctors? If it is, I'm not laughing."

In response, Daniel pulled out his pocketknife and flipped it open. He opened his left palm and put the cold blade against his skin. "It's not a joke, General." He caught everyone's eyes. "Watch," he instructed them.

Before they could stop him, he bit his tongue and cut open his palm, slicing a narrow gash from his index finger to just above his wrist.

The others' reactions bordered on chaos. Everyone around him seemed to shoot out of their seats all at once while reaching for the knife and his hand.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Daniel!"

"Daniel Jackson, restrain yourself!"

"Dr. Jackson, I order you to stop what you are doing right now or I will put you in a straight jacket! Dr. Frasier, he needs medical attention."

Sam, standing along with the other shocked members of group, grabbed his wounded hand, forcing Daniel to of his feet, while Jack managed to jerk the knife out of his other hand. Janet leapt to her feet and yelled over their voices for them to stop. "It's all right!" she tried to tell them. "He's going to be fine."

She didn't need to tell them that. What was happening to the wound in Daniel's hand quieted everyone down anyway. They froze, all eyes glued to his open left palm. Everyone crowded around the archeologist's extended arm, preventing him from seeing the process himself. He didn't need to. He could imagine it easily and feel it much more easily than that.

Blue sparks like lightning bolts appeared on his palm and traveled up, down, and across the wound that was quickly being coated with blood. A second later, the blood flow stopped, and Daniel could feel the skin knitting in only a few more seconds after that. He grunted against the pain that caused. That part of the healing process, when new skin cells replaced the old so quickly, always seemed to hurt more than inflicting the wound.

Everyone stepped back in shock about the same time that the pain faded away. Daniel pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the blood. A reddened spot on his skin, which was already disappearing, was the only evidence that a knife wound had ever been there.

Silence filled the room, an obvious contrast to the noise level that was there not long ago. Sam was the first one to break it. "But...that's impossible."

Daniel smiled warily at her. "No, it's not. I've had to live with that for over three millennia."

General Hammond stared from him to Janet. His eyes finally settled on the latter. "Doctor? Would you care to explain this?"

Dr. Frasier nodded and gestured at the chairs. "Everyone, please, sit down."

Everyone dropped back into his or her chair. All eyes were on Daniel, and he struggled not to squirm under that intense scrutiny.

"Daniel is who he says he is, and I also have proof." Janet held up several folders, then handed one copy to each person seated at the table. "These are notes I've made on the various tests Daniel has allowed me to perform on his Immortal cells. Immortal physiology heals all physical wounds in relatively short amounts of time. Even wounds that would be fatal to everyone else will heal in the span of minutes or hours on Immortals."

"Woah-back up a minute," Jack asked. "'Daniel's kind?' You mean, there are more like..." he motioned at Daniel's arm, unable to use the right word. "...that?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, Jack. There are hundreds of more people in the world like me."

"This is incredible," Sam said. She poured over Janet's notes, her curiosity piqued. "But...how can this be possible at all? Nothing can be Immortal."

"Nothing is. Not even Immortals," Daniel said, still uncomfortable. "All my wounds heal except for one."

"And what is that, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"Beheading. Which can be a problem."

"I don't see the problem. Beheadings aren't that common nowadays, son," Hammond said.

"They're more common than you think." Daniel rubbed at his neck. "Immortals tend not to get along very well, and it's all because of something called the Game. A long time ago, back before I was even born, the Game began. Basically, all Immortals believe that in the end, there can be only one."

"-only one?" Sam repeated, her eyes bulging. "As in only one Immortal?"

Daniel nodded. "Whenever an Immortal dies, his or her Quickening, an Immortal's soul, is transferred to the closest Immortal. It gives the Immortal more power and strength. Most Immortals believe that the last of us on Earth will have absorbed so many Quickenings that he or she will be powerful enough to rule the world."

"Well, that's a little arrogant, don't ya think?" Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged. "I don't know, Jack. You don't know what a Quickening is like."

He let that comment sink in. Four gazes stared at him, registering yet another shock in less than fifteen minutes. Teal'c's eyebrows raised fractionally and his mouth gaped slightly. "Do you mean to say that you have participated in this Game?" the Jaffa asked.

Daniel nodded, glancing down at the table. "Yeah. Sometimes I have to. Some Immortals want to be the last Immortals so badly that they actively hunt for other Immortals. It's hard to stay away from those for long."

After a few minutes of more intense silence, Jack asked, "How is it that Immortals kill each other? Guillotines aren't really common anymore, ya know."

Daniel muttered "Thank God" before continuing, "We use swords. Fights between Immortals are usually one-on-one sword combat to the death."

Sam shook her head and gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Daniel, but I'm having trouble taking this all in."

"I think we all are," Hammond spoke up. "But there's something else I'd like to know. How did you know about all of this, Dr. Frasier? And why haven't you told us any of this before now?"

"I found out about this pretty early on, actually, General. I finally got Daniel to undergo a physical, and I got some amazing results. His Immortality keeps him in perfect physical health all the time; he heart never malfunctions, he never has to suffer from any illnesses, and he will never age a single day past thirty-five. I asked him about it, and he made me swear not to tell anyone in exchange for the whole story. We've kept it a secret until now."

"Why now?" Jack asked.

"Because I haven't told many mortals about what I really am, and as much as I trust you guys, it was hard for me to tell even Janet," Daniel said. "The other reason is because something's up."

"And exactly what else is going on?" General Hammond demanded.

"I think that something we brought through the Gate is effecting the behavior of other Immortals." Seeing their blank looks, he continued, "Over the past three weeks, I have been challenged by four different Immortals. At first, they tried to bargain with me. Each one wanted to get on the base."

Everyone reacted to that. "What? Why?" Sam asked.

"That's the tricky part," Daniel admitted. "Like I said, each of them tried to get on the base by coming through me, which doesn't make much sense. I may be the only Immortal that works here, but I don't have much authority. After I refused to help them get on the base, each one of them got frantic and anxious. They claimed that something was pulling them toward Cheyenne Mountain. Where in the mountain, they didn't know, but they claimed that their Quickenings were demanding to be closer to something that was here, like a homing beacon giving off a signal that became stronger the closer they were to the beacon. They pretty much lost patience around that point and challenged me."

"What a minute-you said that they claimed to feel it. Do you?" Sam asked.

Daniel shook his head. "Nope. As far as I can tell, I'm the only Immortal in Colorado Springs who isn't affected by this in the slightest. Janet and I don't know why, but we think we know what's causing it. Three weeks ago, about the time the first Immortal challenged me, SG-10 brought back a huge cube covered in a dialect that is a mix of Etruscan and Carthaginian. It's probably the only thing in my lab I haven't had time to look at yet with all the missions we've been going on."

He paused, realizing he was rambling like usual. The room was silent as everyone processed everything he and Janet had told them in the past hour. It certainly was a lot of information.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Jack said finally. "You're Immortal. Bunches of other people are also Immortal. Only you're not really Immortal, you're just...harder to kill."

Daniel winced. Jack was trying to be subtle, but the meaning behind that was always clear in his mind. He rubbed his neck before nodding at Jack to continue.

Jack winced, too. He'd seen Daniel's reaction. He quickly returned to his narrative. "A bunch of other Immortals have gotten so antsy over a big rock that they challenged you of all people to get in here," he waved at the base in general, "only you've managed to beat all of them so far."

Daniel nodded again. "Right."

"Couldn't these Immortals be in league together?" Sam asked him.

Janet shook her head. "Immortals tend not to congregate in groups, Sam. When they do meet, usually only one of them walks away. Daniel has told me that some Immortals do become friends and a few even marry, but either case does not happen frequently."

"How do you know that their actions were genuine?" Teal'c asked. "You did say that you do not feel this 'pulling,' as you call it."

Daniel sighed. "I wish I could believe that, but I don't think that's the case. No Immortal would willingly put on an act that good just to get their head chopped off. Also, one of my few Immortal friends says he's begun to feel the same thing, but it's not as strong as it was for the others."

Jack looked up at that. "Adam Peirson? So he's Immortal, too? What, is he around your age, oh ancient one?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he had any misgivings about any of this before the meeting. His friends were taking all of this in almost in stride. "He's a lot older, actually. He's around five thousand years old."

Even Janet looked surprised at that. Maybe she was surprised most of all, and with good reason. "Are you talking about Methos, the Immortal you said was the oldest?"

"The oldest Immortal? You mean Danny isn't the oldest if he really is thirty-five hundred?"

"Nope, I don't have that honor. Most people think Methos is a legend, too, and it's hard to compare to one of those." There was, of course, sarcasm in his tone. Methos may be a legend in name, but in person...that was an entirely different story.

"Just how long can your race live, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel shrugged. "Don't know, really. We think we can live indefinitely unless our heads our cut off."

"Maybe we could run some tests," Sam said, startling them all. She looked up at them. "See if we can find some evidence to support Daniel's homing beacon theory." Her gaze landed on Hammond. "Sir, with your permission I'd like to run a few tests on the object and Daniel, if that's all right." She looked back and forth from the general and Daniel, asking for both of their permissions.

"Permission granted," Hammond said. "Dr. Jackson, whenever the major doesn't need you, you will be translating the writing on the artifact. Hopefully it will give us some clues. Dr. Frasier, you will assist Major Carter with any information you've gathered so far. Dismissed."

Everyone stood up to leave, looking at Daniel. Sam, Teal'c, and Jack looked like they wanted to have an even longer talk with him until Hammond spoke up, "Dr. Jackson, a word?"

Daniel stood back and waited for the others to leave before turning to the general. "Dr. Jackson, while I understand your wish for secrecy in this matter, I expect that from now you will not hold back any information concerning the safety of the SGC. Is that understood?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, general. Um...exactly who are you planning on telling about this?"

Hammond smiled, understanding his unease. "Only the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will know about this, son. Don't worry, doctor. No one is going to get their hands on you as long as I'm around."

Daniel smiled, relieved. "Thank you, General Hammond."

"One last thing, doctor. If another Immortal tries to kill you, don't return the favor. Get him incapacitated and call the base. I'll send a team out and we'll lock him up."

Daniel nodded and left the room.

*****

Daniel sat bent over his desk, poring over the photos taken of the sides of the alien cube that was currently in Sam's lab. So far, all he'd found was a basic history of the inhabitants of PY8-776, but it was pretty interesting and relevant for many reasons. It was filled with references to 'the undying ones,' and he was almost confident that the writer meant Immortals. The planet's history began when a Goa'uld came to Earth and captured a group of Etruscans. The Goa'uld brought them to PY8-776. Several hundred years later, long after Ra took his first host in the Egyptian desert, Ra conquered over and killed the other Goa'uld and claimed PY8-776 as his own. Then he headed back to Earth to gather a larger workforce. He came across Carthaginians. At the time, some of the Carthaginians left their native land in North Africa and conquered Spain. Ra found it was easy enough to capture a group of the new Spanish settlers. Then he headed back to Egypt to take more of his favorite group of slaves.

He didn't need to translate all of that. Daniel was there. He could remember it clearly. He could remember Ra's pyramid ship landing in Spain. Awe and terror had filled every pore of his body. He'd never seen a pyramid before, especially not a flying one. He and several other Carthaginians were forced onto the pyramid ship. He'd been a slave before then, so he knew how to act, but Ra had been a terrible sight to behold back then. Daniel didn't really see that much of the Goa'uld, actually; he wasn't a favorite.

The pyramid flew to Egypt, and Ra's Jaffa emptied an entire city of people and put them with the Carthaginians. While loading all of the new people onto the vessel, Daniel had felt an Immortal buzz. Looking around, he saw Methos.

After agreeing not to kill each other, they helped each other escape. Riots against Ra started not long afterward, and Methos and Daniel helped them. Methos got very close to the Goa'uld, so close that he even stabbed the Goa'uld through the heart. The two Immortals hadn't known at the time that Ra could use his sarcophagus to heal his hosts' body. If they had, they would have worried about Ra getting revenge.

And now, the text from the cube was pointing in the direction that Ra wanted revenge. The history summary went on to explain how Ra built a great and unusual device to use against the Immortals who dared to fight against him three thousand years ago in Egypt. Somehow, he found out about Immortality, and used that knowledge to build an unusual weapon that was easily mistaken for something else.

When Daniel finished the translation, he left his office and headed for General Hammond's. He knew the general would need to see this.

When he stepped into the hallway, however, the buzzer sounded. It drowned on and on as a voice over the intercom announced, "Intruder alert! Repeat, we have an intruder alert! A security team is needed on level ten."

Daniel froze. Level ten was the highest level of the SGC. Travel up to the next level, and you'd be in the NORAD base. Daniel broke into a sprint as he neared the elevator. He had a bad feeling about this.

When the elevator wouldn't respond to his summons, Daniel ran past the elevator and entered the stairwell. Then, as fast as he could, he headed up eight floors.

*****

Since they were on downtime, Jack and Teal'c were traveling up the elevator to the ground floor. Both of them were planning to go see a movie to pass the time, then they'd come back and ask Daniel some more questions.

When the intruder alert blared through the speakers, Teal'c punched in the button for level. They paused long enough to grab some zats, then ran down the hallway in the direction that all the noise was coming from.

When they got there, the fight was at a standstill. The security team had their weapons pointed at a man wearing street clothes. He was using an airman as a shield against the bullets. One arm was snaked around the airman's throat, and the other one held a four-foot long sword to the airman's stomach.

Jack and Teal'c ran up to the security detail and raised their weapons at the intruder. "Release him and drop your weapon!" Jack ordered.

The plainclothes man looked sternly at him. "Not until you take me to it!"

"Release the prisoner first and we'll do that," Jack told him.

"O'Neill," Teal'c whispered to Jack, "Perhaps this is one of the Immortals affected by the homing beacon."

"Ya think?" Jack asked sarcastically. He'd figured that, too. It made a twisted kind of sense, too.

The stranger suddenly looked around, almost blindly, eyes wide. He was looking for something, and Jack had no idea what.

The stranger's gaze settled on the hallway behind Jack, Teal'c and the security team. Whatever was there, the guy didn't like it. "Daniel Jackson," he said.

Surprised, Jack looked behind him. There was Daniel all right. He held a knife in his hand and he looked out of breath. "Daniel?" Jack questioned.

"Hey, Jack," Daniel simply said, keeping his gaze on the intruder and his hostage. "Let him go, Scully. If you do, it'll go in your favor."

Scully shook his head. "They don't know what's going on, Jackson. They're so clueless. But you feel it, don't you? The pulling?"

Scully sounded anxious, and like the Immortals before him, Daniel knew that at any moment Scully was going to loose it completely. "Yes, Scully. I'll show you what's doing this to us. You have to let him go first."

Scully considered this for a moment, then nodded and let the poor airman go. The airman moved out of the way and one of the security team members slapped some cuffs on Scully. Scully met Daniel's gaze and he nodded, so Scully put up no resistance while the team led him away to a holding cell.

Teal'c, Jack, and Daniel watched them go, then headed for the elevator to tell General Hammond. "Friend of yours?" Jack asked the Immortal once they were in the elevator.

Daniel shook his head. "No. We've been enemies for a long time."

"He seemed to be too trustworthy of you if you are enemies," Teal'c pointed out.

Daniel just shrugged. "He knows that I wouldn't lie to him about something like this." He let out a breath of frustration. "He's usually smarter than that. If he wasn't so desperate to get to that cube, he wouldn't have tried to get in here."

"What about your friend, Methos?" Jack asked. "Has he begun to act like that?"

Daniel shook his head, puzzled. "No. He feels it, but it's not as strong as what the other Immortals felt. I don't know why."

"Maybe Carter has something. She's good at that," Jack said, confident that they'd find a solution to whatever was going on.