Unification: The Anunnaki Unification Book 5 Read online

  “Mensa is a group of smart people,” Daniel told him. “It’s just the name of their group. They use very hard puzzles to test people. To see how well they learn.”

  “Oh.” Davy thought about it. “Is Daddy a smart people?”

  “He doesn’t think so, but he is,” Daniel assured him.

  “I think so, too,” Davy said, putting an end to the argument.

  Jack poked him. “Why don’t you go help Paul with his pants?”

  “He’s a big boy, Daddy, he knows how to fix his pants,” Davy explained.

  “Oh, right,” Jack nodded. “Then how about you go out and play?”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  David gave a big, put-upon sigh and slid off Jack’s lap.

  The phone rang and Jerrie answered it in her room.

  “Jack, it’s a Dr. Hyman from the hospital,” she said from around the door. “He has a question about Katie.”

  “Dr. Hyman?” Jack questioned. “Are you serious? Please tell me he isn’t an OB/GYN.”

  She handed him the phone.

  “O’Neill. Yes, Doctor, I’m aware of it; file it under current weirdness and just let her help. Dr. Lam can assist you in directing Katie’s education. Thank you, I appreciate your concern.”

  “Apparently Katie is diagnosing people by looking at them and it’s beginning to irritate the medical staff,” he told the group after he hung up. He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment.

  “Most of the kids I’ve met seem to be doing odd things,” he commented. “A few aren’t doing much of anything except being kids. All of ours are off the charts, even Miss Thing, here.” He tugged gently on Olivia’s toes. She was currently nestled against Ninurta’s chest. “She seems to be a couple months ahead. Catching onto words easier than her brothers and sister did, trying to walk already. Davy senses people’s emotions, Katie, like I said –diagnosing people. Matthew finds depth and connections in information, Stacey picks up languages faster than light-speed and her drawing is getting better.”

  “She’s pretty good at guessing the three-dimensional shape of something if she sees only one side,” Daniel told them. “Her dimensions are excellent.”

  “And one of Mason’s sons, Keith, hears music,” Jack said. Sam nodded.

  “Yes, especially in electricity,” she said. “The smallest amount has a musical tone for him. He likes the naquadah better; says its tone is more even and tranquil.”

  “The National Educators latest newsletter says they’re contemplating giving all primary, secondary, and college level students a new placement test to see if we’re imagining things,” Daniel commented. “The entire curriculum may need to be changed.”

  Enki was in contemplation as he pulled on his beard.

  “I think it’s Katie, Matthew, and possibly David who may need to be watched,” he suggested. “All of their talents have far-reaching possibilities. We don’t know where Olivia is going, yet, but Zu had some interesting commentary on her. David might be able to hear a lie or omission, but it’s Matthew, especially, who will need direction. His talent could be used for negative purposes.”

  “Information,” Jack said. Enki nodded. “He isn’t up for that kind of pressure. He’s learning self-defense, but I can’t see him becoming someone like…. Well, Nick, for the lack of a better example. Matty isn’t ‘covert’ material.”

  “Not now,” Daniel conceded. “But we don’t know what kind of man he will become.”

  “I believe in nurture over nature,” Jack said. “Matty will be fine.”

  “I know he will, Jack, he’s a terrific kid. I’m just saying…..,” Daniel argued.

  Sam put a hand on his arm. “You’re saying life happens,” she clarified. “All we can do is love the kids and raise them the best we can. The rest is up to them.”

  Daniel pointed and nodded.

  “I agree, Jack,” Enki said. “Unless something extreme happens, Matthew is too gentle a person to act covertly. Don’t worry about him. I think, though, you might want to teach him that not everyone who crosses his path will be as ethical as he is.”

  “You do realize he managed to change the subject?” Daniel asked the old man. Enki twinkled.

  “Oh, I have several thousands of years experience in dealing with precocious boys like him.”

  Ninurta ignored him.

  “I asked him to turn my coffee mug from brown to lapis,” Daniel said. “I think his focus needs focus. My cup is now one big piece of lapis.”

  “Yeah, and what’s the point of me being able to do this stuff?” Jack interjected. “I’m not Superman, I’m not going to fly around the world turning water into wine.”

  Daniel looked at him. “Very good, Jack; nice choice. And speaking of religion…..”

  “No.”

  Thankfully, Jack was saved by the bell. The phone, actually. Someone needed Daniel at his lab. Paul wasn’t happy to be minus Daniel the day before his handfasting, but Jack offered him Olivia’s help. Paul turned on his heel and went back to the bedroom and the tailor.

  “You be nice,” Sam scolded. “He was invaluable to our handfasting, you should be more supportive of his.”

  Jack sighed and stuck his head in to apologize. He then escaped the madhouse and stopped in to see his mother. At least she could be counted on to feed him. The peanut butter cookies were nice and warm and chewy as he dunked them into the cold milk.

  Maggie put a few dishes away and sat across from him.

  “I’ve been trying to understand this thing you did,” she said worriedly. “That red line they said you made in the grass. And this healing thing you do.”

  “Believe me, Mom, I’m trying to understand it, too,” he said. “Some people can do things because of genetics. Remember I told you about the Ancients living here on Earth so long ago? Some of them mated with humans. Their genes are still in some people. You know all those stories about Irish magic and stuff? A lot of the old Celts had the genes.

  You and Dad had their genes. It’s the luck of the draw that I can do a few things. Between those genes and something that happened to me a few years ago, I can do a lot more than most people with the genes.”

  “Does your brother have these genes?” she asked.

  “Yes, of course,” Jack nodded. “But his didn’t turn on in his brain the same way mine did. He can use some of the Ancient stuff, if he wanted to, but that’s about it.”

  “Do the kids have them?” she asked.

  “No,” Jack shook his head. “The genes need to come from both parents. Olivia didn’t have them to pass on to Megan, and neither Megan nor Andrew had them to pass on to the kids. The stuff the kids are doing is just part of the leap process.”

  She thought about it and shook her head. “Well, it’s all beyond me,” she concluded. “I remember a number of times I heard my mother say, “Well, I never…” and I do believe this is one of those times.”

  Jack chuckled and nodded. “I remember Gram saying that, too,” he said. “I think she would have rapped my ears for my latest choices.”

  “She would have chased you around the neighborhood with a switch for your latest choices,” Maggie informed him with a knowing waggle of a finger.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Michael found him at their mother’s house just before Jack was about to leave.

  “No.”

  “Jack…..”

  “I said no.” Jack stood his ground, feet almost dug into the floor itself. “I do not have to defend my opinion. I could care less what someone else believes; I am not going to defend my beliefs and lack thereof.”

  Michael sighed and sat. “Jack, no one is asking you to defend yourself. We want to hear your opinion, that’s all.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you have overturned the entire apple cart and the world is interested,” Michael said. “Billions of people DO believe, in whatever manner they see as Truth, and they are looking to their religio
us leaders for answers. The leaders need to consider your opinion because of who you are. Jack, you have the entire world in the palm of your hands. Everyone watches your every move.”

  Jack’s eyes grew bigger. “That’s….. I’m getting better shades for our bedroom window.”

  “Your sex life is a different subject,” Michael said dryly. “It’s minor compared to whether or not there is a God. Jack, we need to understand. I know there’s information that no one can have, I made you a promise and I will keep it, but some people are wondering what you are NOT telling them. People are not stupid, Jack, they can read between the lines and you’ve left some very big openings, and once Daniel’s book hits the shelves in a couple weeks, people are really going to be looking for answers. The leadership needs as much information as you can provide.”

  “Then talk to Daniel,” Jack whined.

  “We have been,” Michael said. “And he’s been a great deal of help. Our problem with him is that he speaks our language instead of letting us in on his own personal beliefs.”

  The eyes narrowed. “Oh, really?”

  Daniel was tracked down in his new lab at HomeSec. He was oblivious to Jack’s entrance until Jack silently came to a halt at his back. Daniel’s hands were inside large, rubber gloves, working under a sterile hood.

  “Please don’t make me drop this,” Daniel said carefully. He was attempting to separate a sodden mass. It was found in a swamp and local archaeologists asked him if he had a way of fixing it so that they could figure out what it was.

  “Why don’t you just dry it out?” Jack asked.

  “Because it would disintegrate. Not that I don’t treasure your presence…..”

  “I’ve agreed to go to the meeting tonight,” Jack said. Daniel paused, almost dropping his mess.

  “Okay.”

  “You’ll come with me, right?”

  “Of course, I will. I’m glad you’re doing this, Jack. Go away?”

  Jack went away. His cell phone rang on his way to his office. There was probably a pile of papers that needed to be signed.

  “O’Neill.” He paused as he listened. “Yes, I agree. Get all teams rerouted to the planet, I’ll call in the ships.”

  He hit the comm as he jogged to his office. People jumped out of the way; their general wasn’t usually rushed about anything, but when he was…..

  “Sam, you and Paul get into uniform and get moving. We’re sending everyone out to meet up with the Jaffa. Some planet was hit by a very large asteroid and there are a couple million people to evacuate. Apparently it took out a chunk the size of Texas.”

  Abigail took one look at her boss and began to prepare for holding down the fort. Jack hit the intercom on his desk as he sent out an all-call from his computer. “Daniel, drop the mud and find me a planet. P7X-893 needs an emergency evacuation. Get a gate address for them. We need it yesterday.”

  All the ships were notified and headed home to pick up personnel and supplies. Jack called the Joint Chiefs and informed the Navy that since they had been complaining about being left out, they could prepare anyone they could spare to help with the evacuations. Get IDs entered into the database immediately and the 303s would begin beaming people up as soon as they were near Earth.

  Taking advantage of the Heaven’s Bow in orbit, Jack had himself beamed home. Sam and Paul were organizing their staff as they dressed.

  “Is it bad guys, Daddy?” Davy asked, sitting worriedly on the couch.

  “No, son,” Jack assured him. “Something bad happened to a planet and we’re going to help the people.” He stripped on his way to the bedroom and picked up the BDU’s that were left on the bed for him. “Jerrie, I’m taking Sam and Daniel with me,” he called out. “Stay put, we’ll call in when we can.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Inanna’s family had already beamed up to Heaven’s Bow and begun preparations for their ship. The door to Daniel’s den opened and Michael poked his head out. He had been rummaging through Daniel’s books.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Michael, I think it’s time you got your hands dirty,” Jack informed him. “I’m drafting you.”

  “You’re what?”

  “Paul! Get Michael into a pair of my BDUs!”

  Jack shoved his brother toward the bedroom. “Jack, you can’t….!”

  “Jack, it’s Carolyn,” Jerrie said, holding the phone out. Jack took it and gave her an update. All medical staff except a peripheral staff would be going on the trip.

  “General, I’d like to take Katie with me,” Lam said.

  Jack stopped. “No -are you kidding?!”

  “I’m not kidding,” she said. “We could use her in triage. She did an excellent job with the Koreans that were transferred here. She knows by looking at people how serious their condition is. We need her.”

  “She’s a kid. I don’t think so.”

  “She’s a kid who lives in your house,” Lam pointed out. “She’s underage, so you do have the final say, but don’t think less of her because of her age. She can handle it. I’ll keep her with me.”

  Jack looked at Sam, thinking hard. He looked around and focused on a picture of Katie that was hanging on the wall. He went to it and touched it, forcing himself to center and find her. ….Scared, yet….strong. He hadn’t touched in with Katie in a while and wasn’t expecting to get the sense of belonging she was feeling.

  “Let me talk to her.”

  Katie was handed the phone.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. “You are still a kid, Katherine; you are not expected to be up for something like this. Things you saw after the bombing will be minor compared to this. A chunk of planet was blown away by an asteroid, do you understand? If you decide you cannot handle it, we cannot stop to bring you home.”

  “I understand, Dad,” she said, sounding more mature than she ever had before. “Please. I want to do this. I think….I need to do this.”

  “Alright,” he sighed as Sam gave him a nod. “Go with Dr. Lam and follow every order. As a medic, she’s your C.O.”

  He hung up and saw the look on Jerrie’s face. “You, too?”

  “I know you need me here, but I can help, too,” she told him. “I have first-aid training.”

  Making a decision, Jack called Hammond and updated him. “George, we could really use all available hands,” he said. “Are your kids up to the challenge?”

  “The older ones, sure,” Hammond immediately assured him. Everyone who was legal age and capable of the pressure would be recruited as emergency troops. By year four, that was just about all the seniors.

  Matty wanted to go, also, the moment he walked in and found out what was going on.

  “No,” Jack said.

  “I’m fifteen and I’ve been training with your guys for almost a year,” Matty reminded him. “Are the Kalam teenagers going?”

  Jack sent him to change into his new BDU’s.

  “I think the rest can be managed by Mom,” Jack told Jerrie. “We should only be gone a couple of days. You can come with.”

  On impulse, Jack called Michael’s friends from the religious advisory board and invited them to help with the evacuations. Feeling pious over the poor, lost aliens, they agreed. Jack knew they had assumed they would be presiding over the wounded and dead. Jack was pleased to inform the incoming Korolev to beam them up. When word reached Washington that Jack was allowing civilians to help, the equally pious of the country’s leadership also volunteered. Jack accepted the offers from the most irritating of them and told the others that they were needed to stay home and mind the store but thank you very much for the generous offers.

  Maynard called him.

  “And where were all these humble politicians when hands were needed to rescue the Koreans? They’re full of shit, Francis, and I will put them to work. They haven’t done any real work in years. And I haven’t kidnapped anyone except my brother,” Jack told him. “Everyone else volunteered. We need all the hands we can
get to save as many people as possible.”

  Daniel called in with a gate address and the SGC had teams begin evacuating people through their gate to a temporary home. The Prometheus was in a neighboring solar system and stopped at a gated planet long enough to pick up personnel and put them down on the wounded planet, taking hours off the transport schedule. The non-military and students were sent down with orders to flag anyone not ambulatory. Pets were rounded up and tossed through the gate.

  The entire planet was undergoing massive quakes and coastal towns were being evacuated first before the coming tidal waves hit. The sky was beginning to darken from all the soot that was being shot into the air by volcanoes. Argos reported that the planet was beginning to tilt. The ships landed in fields close to towns and took on everyone they could before departing and hustling to the holding planet, dropping people off, and going back for more. Towns nearest to disaster zones were assisted first. Allies began to arrive and assist in the relocation.

  Gliders zoomed over the planet, using infrared to find people still alive. Unfortunately, the volcanic heat was starting to hide the signatures. Jack found young Grant and sent him to the other side of the planet with an SG team. The two of them focused on mental signatures in order to locate survivors. A few of the academy students were surprised to see Grant, and to see him dressed in leather and working in concert with the general. A few others were able to sense the presence of people and helped the ground teams.

  Katie wasn’t the only one able to tune into a body, much to her own amazement, so there were a small handful of people hustling around looking at the wounded and calling out degrees of injuries for the medics. From the commentary Jack heard, the medics found the assistance helpful even if they didn’t believe it at first. Even T’Keet was bounding over rubble and notifying rescue teams when she smelled a living person.

  Instead of praying over the dead and wounded, the clergy found themselves being pushed by squad leaders to do nothing more than collect the living and either shove them through the gate or help them onto ships. Michael discovered that Jack had been serious when he said he’d be getting his hands dirty. Having claimed to have worked hard all their lives, they had their definition of ‘hard work’ re-written.