Take It from the Top
(Jim's POV)

I'm trying to keep my senses trained on Blair as we approach the mountain but the truth is that it is a struggle, it is something that goes against my every instinct. He's been on full-blown guide mode since we left Daniel's place, insisting that I focus on him or that I keep things dialed down until I get used to this new environment but after all these years of relying on my senses in the field, approaching a new situation without them feels unnatural... in fact it feels like I'm going in blind and I hate it. As hard as I fought my senses back in the beginning I now know that they are a part of me and I'm not entirely sure of how to function without them... unfortunately they still pose some risks and that's what's causing my current predicament.

My instincts are telling me that I should be scanning my surroundings, making sure there are no looming threats but my guide is telling me not to do that and that terrifies me. I understand where he is coming from, of course. I know he is more worried about the environment we are about to enter than about any possible threats that may be waiting for us there but I can't just ignore those threats... especially because this particular scenario comes a little too close for comfort to one I have been dreading for a very long time.

The good news is that I have been scanning Daniel's reactions since we arrived and I'm fairly certain that, as far as he knows, this is not a trap... the bad news is that that doesn't tell me anything about what he doesn't know and that is not a comforting thought. The problem here is a simple one: even the best lie detector in the world can only detect a deliberate lie, one in which the liar is aware of the truth so the fact that I know that Daniel isn't lying doesn't really mean much.

Sure, the fact that he has been working at the SGC for a number of years is reassuring, as is the fact that he is considered critical to the program's success or the fact that the relationship between him and Blair is just a coincidence, one no one was aware of until a couple of weeks ago, but even that is no guarantee. Yes, from what we've been told Daniel's contribution to the SGC's success so far has been crucial enough to make it unlikely that the higher-ups would do anything that could possibly alienate him... but I can't afford to forget that we are talking about the military here and that means that the issue is unlikely to be that straight forward. The bottom line is that in the end the decision not to lie to Daniel would require those same higher-ups to be looking at the big picture and I'm all too aware that that's not always their strong suit.

Sure, there are some highly qualified people in the military, the problem is that --thanks to the chain of command-- the ones who are best prepared to make a particular decision are not always, or even usually, the ones calling the shots. In other words: while Daniel trusts General Hammond, as do Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, we can't afford to overlook the fact that all three of them have admitted that they have had some less than pleasant run ins with some other branches of our esteemed government when those particular branches tried to take control of the stargate for their own purposes... but then again that is hardly surprising.

As Blair put it when we were talking about it last night, it is all a simple matter of fish and ponds. The US military is used to being a very big fish here on earth and I guess it is only natural that there are going to be quite a few elements in it who are having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the rules have changed. The US military may have been a big fish here but the thing is that they have gone from a tiny garden pond to the open ocean and as a result all of a sudden they have been reduced to little more than small fry.

I mean, even though from what Daniel's told us the SGC has been able to hold its own against the likes of the Goa'uld, that does nothing to change the fact that pissing the Asgard off would be a really bad idea and that's something some elements of our government have come pretty close to doing more than once... and those elements do have their fingers in the SGC pie.

In other words we are heading straight into something that may or may not be a trap and at the same time my guide is telling me to dial down my senses, do I even have to say how much that is bothering me?